Islamophobia in Portugal: the portrayal of Muslims and Islam in media’ discourses

Abstract

This paper analyses the main Islamophobic discourses presents in Portuguese media narratives surrounding Muslims and Islam since the 2000s. This analisys is based on data from press and media online, particularly the discursive construction on Muslims and Islam after the 9/11 attacks in U.S., the 2006 Danish cartoon affair, the 2015 Charile Hebdo attack in Paris and the campaign and petition, launched in Portuguese pubic sphere, in May 2016, against the construction of the new Mosque in Greater Lisbon – in Mouraria, where Muslims from South Asian and West Africa live and work. In the first part, I examine how the vast majority Portuguese media and cyberspace narratives tend to represent Muslims and Islam. In the second part, I will show how some journalistc coverages in press and mass media – very often focused in tacking and “correct” negative representations of Muslims and Islam – have depoliticize the debate on anti-Muslim racism in social and political domain, ignoring the institutionalised policies of Islamophobia.