Die Gefahr der Co-Radikalisierung: Wie sich Muslimfeindlichkeit und Islamismus in Deutschland wechselseitig verstärken

This article examines anti-Muslim and Islamist co-radicalization processes in Germany. An analysis of the Leipzig Authoritarianism Study and a survey among Muslims reveals that there is a nexus between an increased salience of in-group allegiance and the formation of antagonistic identities and violent intentions. In the German majority society, fear of Islamist violence and threat perceptions towards Muslims are not only closely linked to identification with groups that are critical of Islam, but also increase the willingness to consider violence and breaches of the law as legitimate options for action and means of social change. Similar patterns emerge among Muslims expressing fear of discrimination and acts of racist violence and who identify strongly with their in-group. Specific mediators are at play in this context. Among Muslims, the salience of in-group allegiance is fueling a turn towards religious-fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, that are associated with antisemitic resentments and that promote anti-system attitudes. At the same time, the threat perceptions in the majority society favors the rise of anti-Muslim prejudices and an increased susceptibility to a chauvinistic variant of nationalism, both of which can lead to a rejection of democracy. In general, anti-democratic attitudes—that imply a rejection of the normative and legal framework of democracy—turn out to be powerful harbingers of an increased affinity for violence and violence-prone activism. These empirical patterns suggest that right-wing extremist and Islamist radicalization should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as mutually reinforcing phenomena that endanger the democratic political culture and thus make a radicalization into violence more likely. Anti-Islamic and Islamist radicalization processes add plausibility to the fear and victimization discourses of the opposing camps and thus fuel co-radicalization and potentially a vicious circle of violence.