Co-Radicalisation of Young Europeans

Nativist and Islamist Radicalism in Europe

From 2019 to 2024, Ayhan Kaya did extensive research on what’s causing radicalization among young Europeans with backgrounds both ‘native’ and ‘Muslim’ focusing on radical Islamism and right-wing extremism. In the past two decades since 9/11, these two groups have been studied separately, emphasizing the polarization between them. In reality, they face similar problems like being marginalized in society economically, politically, and psychologically.

By letting young people from both groups share their experiences firsthand, Kaya highlights the feelings of resentment, injustice, and exclusion they face daily, including humiliation and discrimination. Kaya’s presentation tries something new by letting these young people express their grievances, beliefs, and desires openly. Drawing from social movements literature, Kaya suggests that these European youth are reacting differently to globalization’s challenges, like job loss, exclusion, and various forms of mistreatment. During this event, Kaya will present the results of his research, discussing his main findings with Gulnaz Sibgatullina and Claske Vos.

About the speakers

Ayhan Kaya is Professor of Politics and Jean Monnet Chair of European Politics of Interculturalism at the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Bilgi University; Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence; and a member of the Science Academy, Turkey. He is currently a European Research Council Advanced Grant holder (ERC AdG, 2019-2024). Kaya specializes in European identities, Euro-Turks in Germany, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, the Circassian diaspora in Turkey, the construction and articulation of modern transnational identities, refugee studies in Turkey, conventional and nonconventional forms of political participation in Turkey, and the rise of populist movements in the EU.

Gulnaz Sibgatullina is an Assistant Professor for Illiberal Regimes in the Department of History, European Studies, and Religious Studies at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on Islam in Europe, contemporary Islamic thought, state-church relations, and minority issues in Russia.

Claske Vos is anthropologist and Assistant Professor at the Department of European Studies at the Humanities Faculty of the University of Amsterdam. Her current work focusses on the intersection of EU funding, cultural activism and enlargement. Her expertise is in European cultural policy, cultural heritage, Southeast Europe and European identity formation.

ValEUS: About the project – VALEUS

Bilgi University: https://www.bilgi.edu.tr/en/academic/faculty-of-social-sciences-and-humanities/