Concluded projects
of the Institute of Conflict Research
Secularization and the Gender Specific Construction of the “Other” Religion
| Project Management: | Prof. Erika Thurner, Institute of Political Science, University of Innsbruck |
| Project Team: | Mag.a Karin Bischof MMag.a Dr.in Karin Stögner Dr. Florian Oberhuber, Research Centre "Discourse, Politics, Identity" Dr. Irène Bellier, LAIOS, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris Dr. Nacira Guénif-Souilamas, Université Paris 13 Dr. Friedhelm Kröll, Institute of Sociology, University of Vienna |
| Financed by: | Austrian Ministry of Sciences |
| Concluded in | December 2008 |
Research questions:
Since our main research interest was to decipher current configurations of European identity, we decided to analyse the discussions on Turkey’s accession to the EU in French and Austrian print media. The main focus was on the context of current disagreements which are often interpreted in religious terms. The implicit Christian grounding of the concept of secularity and the corresponding construction of the “other” religion was of particular interest, and gender-specific representations of the self and the other were found to be crucial. Why and how do “private”, “typically Islamic” gender relations play a central role in the discussions on whether Turkey meets European standards? Are these gender-specific discursive strategies country-specific or European? These were the questions central to our research project.
Method:
In the course of the project, the news coverage from 2004 to 2006 in seven Austrian and seven French daily and weekly newspapers has been analysed. The methodological approach combined an inductive, open mode of theoretical sampling (Strauss & Corbin) with qualitative content analysis (Mayring). Small amounts of data were chosen for an inductive construction of categories. We referred to the methodological tools of text and discourse analysis. In addition, assumptions derived from our literary study of collective projections and constructions of the “other” were included in the construction of categories. After a pre-test, the whole material was analysed, case studies were drawn up and a a cross-national analysis was performed.
Results:
As gender critical nationalism studies have shown, the demarcation of nations works via an intersection of the constructs of "gender" and "nation". Similar mechanisms can be found in the demarcation of the transnational entity of European Union.
Our analysis of the media in France and Austria revealed that in both countries, national conceptions concerning Europe, secularity and gender images come to the fore in discussions on Turkey’s accession to the EU. Whereas in the Austrian discourse the EU tends to be viewed as a “federal patchwork”, the French discourse emphasises the “common political mission”. The discursive modes of inclusion and exclusion vary accordingly. In France, Islam and Turkey are often represented as defying the universalised standards of an ancient colonial power and its laic/secular construct of the political public. In Austria, on the other hand, the accession of Turkey to the EU is often construed as a potential threat. Here we find a defensive idea of the EU instead of a universalistic ‘mission civilisatrice’, and frequent references can be found to the historical experience of defending the (Christian) Occident. Beyond these national discursive modes of inclusion and exclusion, we also found some cross-national, “European” aspects: Orientalist perception based on specific moments of European enlightenment. Hence, the discussion on Turkey serves as a way of constructing the European and national self in terms of religion and secularity. Gender-specific representations of the self and the other are crucial to these discursive strategies. Furthermore, constructs of masculinity and femininity are linked with the semantic fields of civilisation/barbarism or modernity/tradition.
Outlook:
The knowledge gathered in the course of the project has to be seen, primarily, as a contribution to a “reflection of the European self”. During research and analysis the image of the “other”, in the given case of the “other religion” turned out to be influenced by specific fears stemming particularly from an area of the “own” being uncomprehended and not sufficiently consolidated. Actual and alleged peculiarities of the “other” work as a contrasting foil. Hence, the outcome of this research project will help to understand interferences of the “own” and the “other”, which obstruct the view of the other’s real qualities.
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