Securitization, Normalization, and Representation of Islam in Parliamentary Discourse: A Comparative Perspective

This study explores the representation and framing of Islam in parliamentary discourses from a comparative perspective. Over two decades since the terrorist attacks, 9/11 still continues to be a defining moment that divides the relationship between "the West" and "Islam" into a "before" and an "after". In addition, the so-called refugee crisis in the 2010s shaped the image of Muslims, particularly in Europe. However, we do not know the extent to which the image has changed, especially in the political arena. Parliamentary speeches play a crucial role in shaping this discourse but are rarely systematically used to explore the discourse on Islam. Therefore, we ask three questions: How often is Islam discussed in Western parliaments, how is the term framed, and how has the frequency and the framing changed over time comparatively? In this contribution, we build on a previous study by Coen (2017) who analyzed the discourse on Islam in the US Congress shortly before and ten years after 9/11 using a securitization perspective. She uses a keyword approach to identify relevant speeches and coded each speech regarding the level of securitization and tonality. After reproducing her analysis, we will replicate the study with the same research design by expanding the data basis and including parliamentary speeches from various countries. As data basis, we will use the Parlspeech V2 data set (Rauh and Schwalbach 2020). Our replication study will strengthen the results of previous research and, therefore, will contribute to a better understanding of the political discourse on Islam in Western countries.