Key Facts

Principal Investigators:

  • Prof. Dr. Sabrina Zajak, German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZiM), Berlin
  • Dr. Mirjam Weiberg-Salzmann, German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZiM), Berlin

Project Coordination:

  • PD Dr. Liriam Sponholz, German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZiM), Berlin

Academic Staff:

  • Anna-Maria Meuth, M.A.

Duration: 01/2021 – 03/2024

Scientific Advisory Board

  • Prof. Dr. Dietmar Loch, Lille University (Website)
  • Dr. Ebtisam Ramadan, DeZIM-Institute (Website)
  • Prof. Dr. Kristian Berg Harpviken, Institute for Peace Research Oslo (Website)
  • Prof. Dr. Luca Ozzano, Turin University (Website)
  • Prof. Dr. Mathias Quent, Institute for Civil Society and Democracy, Research Institute for Social Cohesion (Website)
  • Prof. Dr. Ruth Wodak, Vienna University (Website)
  • Dr. Yasemin Shooman, Staff of the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration and Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Racism at the Federal Chancellery (Website)

Project Partners

  • Center for Religion and Modernity, Munster University (Website)
  • Institute for Social Movements, Bochum University (Website)

Publications in English

  • International symposium & workshop hosted by the DeZIM-Institute in Berlin, 9. and 10. November.
  • Sponholz, Liriam (2023): Counter Speech: Practices of Contradiction on Hate Speech and their Effects. In: Febel, Gisela/Knopf, Kerstin/Nonhoff, Martin (Hg.): Contradiction Studies–Exploring the Field, Wiesbaden: Springer VS, 163-181.
  • The Projects RaMi and D:Islam will lecture at the "29th International Conference of Europeanists" in Reykjavik, Iceland [Download]

From the Margins to the Centre (RaMi)

Right-wing populist interpretations of (radical) Islam as a challenge to society in Germany, Europe, and beyond

Are right-wing populist movements establishing an interpretation of Islam as a radical and violent religion? The RaMi project explores this central question by examining reporting and discourse in mass media and digital networks. The media analysis examines the role of such interpretations in the rise of right-wing populism, as well as how they shape the overall public discourse. As other political forces and established religious actors portray Islam as radical, such interpretations gain normality. RaMi tests the thesis that this process of normalization is reinforced by the medialisation of politics or the functional logic of media, respectively. The analysis will demonstrate how right-wing populist discourses link "Islam" with national identity and migration and ask about the effects of this linkage on social images of Islam. Using a mixed-method design, RaMi analyses large-scale media data: Besides content, political and religious actors as well as political events, e.g. terrorist attacks, are important. The study is based on data on Islam in Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy from 2000 to 2020.


Film "The RaMi Project" | Duration 2"18' | Realisation Ute Seitz // Philipp Offermann | PRIF 2021

The RaMi project - "from the margin to the center" - deals with right-wing populist interpretations of Islam as a radical religion and considers the extent to which right-wing populist and radical right-wing movements in particular shape our societal image of Islam. In an interview with RADIS, Prof. Dr. Sabrina Zajak, Dr. Mirjam Weiberg-Salzmann, and PD Dr. Liriam Sponholz describe the origins and effects of right-wing populist discourse and explain why the media in particular play a crucial role in it. Read more.