Countering Islamophobia through the Development of Best Practice in the use of Counter-Narratives in EU Member States (Counter-Islamophobia Kit)

The overall aim of the Action was to compare the operation of counter-narratives to Muslim hatred in eight EU member states in order to examine their use and effectiveness in terms of providing alternatives to prevailing narratives of hate and hostility and reducing racism. This involved assessing prevailing narratives of Muslim hatred and the local, national and international environments in which they operate, identifying the content, utilisation and impact of counter-narratives in each member state context and comparing their operation and outcomes in order to identify best practice in the form of a Toolkit of Counter-Narratives.

The Action collated empirical information about the operation of counter-narratives in eight member states (the UK, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Greece, plus France and Germany) providing the first comprehensive comparative picture of the use of counter-narratives and for the first time compared these data to explore what works in the use of counter-narratives utilising a range of indicators.

Outputs

The reports published in the project on Hungary can be found below in the Related Publications section, they were prepared with the contribution of Aniko Bakonyi from the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, who was a member of the Advisory Board of the project and added her valuable comments to the Hungarian section. 

There is an edited volume summarizing the project results: Countering Islamophobia in Europe, published by Palgrave in 2019. The book draws on new evidence from eight national contexts (UK, Greece, Hungary, Czech Republic, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany) to provide an innovative kit of counter-narratives of Islamophobia that will be of value to EU institutions, governments and policy-makers, NGOs and media organisations, as well as researchers of multiculturalism, Islam, Muslims and immigration. It makes a definitive case for the recognition that the treatment of Muslims - the touchstone of contemporary European racism - is being, can be, and will be challenged by counter-narratives that make the claim for Muslim humanity, plurality, space and justice. 

All project outputs are available on the main CIK project website.

The project is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship (REC) Programme of the European Union.