‘The Slovakebab’: Anti-Islam Agenda in Slovak Parliamentary Elections and Beyond
‘The Slovakebab’: Anti-Islam Agenda in Slovak Parliamentary Elections and Beyond

Summary/Abstract: The article examines discursive framing of Muslims during the 2020 Slovak parliamentary campaign, putting it in the broader context of the four-year period since the previous 2016 elections, which took place in the shadow of the European migration crisis. We adopt a social constructivist framework to argue that, despite very low numbers of Muslims in Slovakia, Islam remains a politically divisive issue. Competing discourses strive to redefine Islam for their own political purposes, making use of politicized symbols such as the ‘kebab’ or the ‘minaret’ in the process. This makes Islam a floating signifier of Slovak politics to which multiple meanings can be attached. In the absence of actual problems with Muslim minority integration, axiological conflicts over Islam can be seen as representing broader struggles between more culturally conservative and liberal-multiculturalist forces.

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