How Islamism challenges Western societies. Lecture series on dealing with Islamism in Germany and Europe

Radical Islam has been perceived as a direct threat in Western societies at least since the attacks of September 11, 2001. At that time, the threat came primarily from outside, but today radical currents of Islam have become a challenge within society. What are the social, political, cultural and historical reasons for this development? And how do they affect social life through insecurities and threats?

To investigate these questions, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding twelve research projects across Germany in the RADIS funding line: they conduct basic research into the causes and effects of Islamism and radicalization in Germany and Europe, always bearing in mind the social relevance of their research. In the RADIS funding line, around 100 researchers from various disciplines collect extensive data, including through surveys and interviews – for example, on how Muslim organizations have communicated after attacks with an Islamist background, how schools and Islamic religious education can take preventive action against Islamist radicalization and what role the family and social environment play in the individual process of radicalization and turning away from it.

It is currently half-time for most of the projects funded until 2025. The researchers are taking this opportunity to present the first bundled results of their studies: The lecture series “Islamism in Germany and Europe: Society’s approach to causes and effects”, will take place on Thursdays at 6:15 pm on the Westend campus from 20 April and is organized in cooperation with the research initiative “ConTrust – Trust in Conflict” at Goethe University.

To kick off the series, the social scientists PD Dr. Özkan Ezli and Prof. Dr. Levent Tezcan from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster will speak on April 20 under the title “‘You can only live out Islam within your own four walls’. Resentment in theory and practice’. Her lecture will focus on how experiences of discrimination and resentment are processed in the immigration society.