The Far Right, banal nationalism, and the reproduction of Islamophobia through the consumer activist campaign of Boycott Halal

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Jafari, Aliakbar and Saleh, Alam (2024) The Far Right, banal nationalism, and the reproduction of Islamophobia through the consumer activist campaign of Boycott Halal. The Sociological Review. pp. 1-21. ISSN 0038-0261 (https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261241291676)

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Abstract

In this case study, we examine a UK-based anti-halal consumer activist campaign called the Boycott Halal Campaign (BHC). Using critical discourse analysis applied to online data, we show how, by framing halal-certified products as an existential threat to the UK, BHC drew from and contributed to the institutionalized ideology of Islamophobia. Given the potential of markets and consumptionscapes in increasing the visibility of ethnoreligious markers, we show how the far right has used these mundane arenas as fertile grounds on which to reproduce its discourse through banal nationalism and exclusionary civilizationism. We argue that beyond public protests, the far right has used consumer activism as a powerful tool for recruiting members and mobilizing different groups against Islam and Muslims. We contribute to the sociological accounts of inter-group identity dynamics by showing how activists can leverage the securitization discourse to mobilize different groups for their political ends. We argue that such mobilization (aimed at reproducing a collective identity) becomes possible when a social group perceives its collective identity to be under threat by another social group. The study calls for more research on how and why different forms of exclusionary ideologies can arise and evolve over time and what tools and mechanisms they can use to transmit their agendas and recruit members.

ORCID iDs

Jafari, Aliakbar ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4321-2911 and Saleh, Alam;
  • Item type:Article
    ID code:90399
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    7 November 2024
    Published
    7 November 2024
    Published Online
    28 August 2024
    Accepted
    Subjects:Social Sciences > Sociology
    Department:Strathclyde Business School > Marketing
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:28 Aug 2024 14:48
    Last modified:25 Nov 2024 15:54
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/90399
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