ABSTRACT
The ideology of the radical right may be extremely hard to pin down and classify, ranging from extreme social conservatism to ‘soft’ populism with often liberal hues to violent activism; and from seemingly respectable, suave agents of parliamentary democracy to groups with para–military characteristics, even terrorist clandestine links. Islamophobia, socially constructed and reproduced form of racism directed at Islam and people with Muslim background, has had deep roots in European societies that, in different forms, go back decades or even centuries. If the creep of Islamophobia into state practice has so far been relatively slow, inconsistent, and lagging well behind discourses of moral panic, this has stopped local performances of the anti–Muslim subtractive utopia. The mayor of the town had achieved notoriety back in 2015 when he launched video message titled ‘Message to illegal immigrants from Hungary’, with which he warned Muslim refugees that they would be immediately arrested and imprisoned upon entering the town.
