This presentation systematizes and presents a range of research findings from my Dr.Philos. project on the rhetorics of Islamophobia in publications by the Norwegian pressure group the Human Rights Service (HRS), and its implications for liberal democracy. Despite sustained public criticism, close ties to far-right political elites, two decades of public funding, substantial undisclosed private donations, integration into state structures through the Norwegian Immigration Appeals Board, and involvement in a direct attack on Norwegian democracy (the Bertheussen scandal), the HRS has received surprisingly limited scholarly attention. The presentation addresses three main topics. First, I outline the general framework of the research project and present what I identify as the core discursive devices underpinning the HRS’s efforts to shape public perceptions of Muslim identities and Islam. Second, I present the argument that the HRS contributes to transforming social pluralism from a site of democratic contestation and deliberation into zones of raw antagonism, thereby dislocating the normative and discursive boundaries at the heart of the liberal democratic framework. Finally, I suggest a need for further research into the dynamics of plutocratic populism, wherein economic elites and right-wing populist actors mobilize cultural and identity-based grievances through organizations like the HRS to advance electorally viable, elite-aligned economic agendas.
Søren M. Andreasen is senior lecturer in Social Work at campus Alta. His visit in Tromsø is arranged by the
ENCODE research group.