La práctica en la Casa Museo Quinta de Bolívar

and policies in response to the perceived threat of terrorism (see also macro-factors below). It is also influenced by the view that immigrants are competitors in the struggle for economic resources – a fear that far right-wing groups such as the English Defence League successfully capitalise on (Garland and Treadwell, 2012). Similarly, Blinder et al. (2013: 853) conclude that as ‘fear dissolves social norms against prejudice toward the threatening group, hostility previously held in check may come to the surface and encourage support for policies targeting disliked minorities’.

Anti-Muslim attitudes are at the centre of many articles and studies. Cifti’s statistical analysis of a large cross-national PEW dataset found that the perception of Muslims as a threat to one’s safety and well-being and the view that Muslims’ cultural practices threaten Western values ‘are among the strongest determinants of anti-Muslim sentiment’ (Ciftci, 2012: 303). The perception of symbolic threat was also detected in the Victorian context; in extensive focus group consultations with over 100 Victorian study participants, Lentini et al. (2011) found that, while Islamophobic views were not prevalent, some participants considered Muslims who do ‘not comprehend or acclimatise to Australian customs and social fabric’ to be a threat to Australia and Australian security (Lentini et al., 2011: 420). Similarly, other studies have found that minorities who insist on practicing non-Christian religions and non-Western cultural traditions are perceived by some as a threat to social cohesion (Hervik, 2012). The perception of threat as a key explanatory factor at the micro-level for racist and exclusivist views was broadly shared in the literature, whereas other emotive factors were barely

canvassed. Only one psychological study from the US, based on several psychological experiments, argues that anger is the ‘primary emotional trigger of whites’ negative racial attitudes’ (Banks and Valentino, 2012: 286).

Some articles identify certain psychological predispositions and character traits as predictors of racist attitudes and exclusivist prejudice. Nesdale et al. (2012) found that cultural empathy, flexibility and especially open-mindedness were negatively associated with ethnic prejudice, while high levels of right-wing authoritarianism were predictors of such prejudiced views (see also, Perry et al.,

2014). Dhont and Hodson (2014) examined mental and cognitive ability as a predictor of prejudice, emphasising the mediating effect of right-wing ideologies. They conclude that people with lower cognitive abilities are more likely to be prejudiced, regardless of their socioeconomic status or formal education. This is explained by their ‘greater endorsement of right-wing socially conservative attitude’ (2014: 454), which resists the complexities of social change in diverse societies in an effort to ‘impose order over their environment’ (2014: 456). The role of personal religious beliefs or ideologies also emerged, with a particular scholarly focus on the role of membership in various Christian religious denominations as a factor that may influence racism and related forms of prejudice, including Islamophobia (Effron and Knowles, 2015; Jung, 2012; Akhtar, 2011; Doebler, 2014; Blogowska and Saroglou, 2011). Studies have consistently found that Christian fundamentalism and membership of exclusivist faith groups (e.g. evangelicals) are positively associated with a higher propensity to racist or ant-Muslim prejudice and attitudes. Being Christian in general, however, was generally not found to be a factor that increases one’s disposition to racism. Aho (2013: 553) argues in his work on the right-wing Christian movement known as Dominionism that it is not social isolation or low levels of education but ideology – specifically, the ‘Protestant ideology of American right-wing politics’ – that plays an important yet overlooked role in this group’s radical ‘action orientation’. Supporters of this radical movement see themselves as ‘enactors of an ethic of ultimate ends’ commanded by God, entitled to ‘use any and every tool available to reconstruct America according to biblical injunctions’ (Aho, 2013: 554).

The review yielded few studies on the role of socioeconomic status or education as a predisposing factor for racism; in fact, education was more commonly discussed as a protective factor (see below). Cantle (2012: 99) claims that ‘an increasing number of evidence based studies … clearly indicate that prejudice can be autonomous and able to transcend socio-economic position’. However, several studies measuring racist, xenophobic or Islamophobic attitudes have demonstrated that socioeconomic and educational factors are often statistically significantly associated with these attitudes. A recent Australia-wide

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representative survey (International Centre for Muslim and non-Muslim Understanding, 2015) found moderate levels of Islamophobia, with between 12-24 percent of respondents expressing Islamophobic and anti-Muslim attitudes. The analysis shows that those not in the workforce (as opposed to those unemployed) and those who did not complete Year 12 are significantly overrepresented among those with Islamophobic attitudes (2015: 16). Ciftci’s (2012: 303) analysis of cross-national PEW survey data confirms that an ‘individual with higher levels of education is less likely to have an unfavourable opinion of Muslims [and] less likely to view Muslims as fanatical, violent, or supportive of terrorism’.

The 2015 Mapping Social Cohesion Scanlon Report (Markus, 2015) found higher levels of intolerance to cultural minorities among those who ‘struggle to pay their bills’ and those with a trade or apprenticeship as their highest secondary degree. A large cross-European survey also found that anti-Muslim, racist and anti-immigrant attitudes are significantly more common among those with lower levels of formal education (Zick et al., 2011: 84) as well as those in lower income brackets (2011: 90). While these findings suggest that racism is more widespread among those with low formal education and socioeconomic status, it is important to underscore that these statistical correlations do not necessarily determine a causal relationship. In addition to these micro-level factors, many articles also highlighted macro- and structural factors that can influence or reinforce exclusivism and racism. A dominant argument made by a very large number of studies is that certain

policies, political rhetoric and modes of public discourse, including mass media, can play a key role in amplifying or fuelling racist or exclusivist views of various minority groups (Gilroy, 2012; Cesari, 2012; d’Appollonia, 2012; Bonino, 2013; Coppock and McGovern, 2014; Alam and Husband, 2013; Rousseau et al., 2013; Sinno, 2012; Netto and Abazie, 2013; Parmar, 2011; O’Loughlin and Gillespie, 2012; Ekman, 2015; Rytter and Pedersen, 2014). Hussain and Bagguley’s (2012) findings in relation to the securitisation of Muslims resonate with many other studies covered by the review: ‘Once an issue has been securitized it becomes ‘common sense’ that it is a threat. ... It becomes impossible to speak of the securitized group

without implying the security threat. It is now well established how political discourse, the media and policy have constructed Islam and Muslims as a threat ….These contributions have largely conceptualized this construction in terms of racism rather than securitisation’ (Hussain and Bagguley, 2012: 716-717). Studies in various Western countries, especially the UK, have similarly concluded that securitisation policies and associated political/public rhetoric have stigmatised Muslim communities as a potential security risk and threat, thereby reinforcing anti-Muslim prejudice and legitimising the expression of Islamophobia, unintentionally strengthening the agenda of far right-wing anti- Muslim groups (Kundnani, 2012a).

As mentioned above, the literature search identified various studies on the capacity of North American and European radical or right-wing extremist parties and movements to mainstream their exclusivist anti-egalitarian agenda. These groups and organisations also play an important role at the meso-level as an institutional platform for expressing, mobilising and sustaining the racist and anti-Muslim attitudes of their affiliates. While, as already noted, the causes and drivers of right-wing extremism remain under-researched (Goodwin and Ramalingam, 2012) some research offers insights into the characteristics of members or supporters of right-wing extremist parties and those involved in right-wing extremist violence. Although these features can sometimes overlap with micro- factors linked to racial prejudice, they cannot be interpreted as predictors of racist attitudes as such. As Goodwin et al. observe, ‘The literature on extreme right party supporters [suggests they] do tend to share a distinct social profile: they tend to be young or old men; come from the working classes or lower middle classes; have none or only few formal qualifications; and are pessimistic about their economic prospects ... Turning to ethnic diversity, there is also evidence that support for right-wing extremism is strongest not within more ethnically diverse areas, but rather is concentrated in mainly white areas that border more ethnically diverse communities (Goodwin and Ramalingam, 2012: 44-45).

Rydgren and Ruth (2013) also found support for radical right-wing parties in Sweden is particularly strong in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods and (confirming the ‘halo effect’)

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