The Political Impact of the Figure of the Racialized Hypersexual Muslims in Europe

This presentation of Farid Hafez discusses debates and policies implemented following a discourse on the so called 'Cologne sex attacks', which were allegedly perpetrated by 'North African Muslims' on New Year's Eve in the German city of Cologne. After the influx of immigrants from war-torn countries like Syria and Iraq, the debate about 'male Muslim immigration' was more and more shaped by racist overtones. This helped right-wing populist parties as well as governing parties to further push for more restrictive policy claims that were built on the racialization of the figure of hypersexual male Muslim identities. In this presentation, Hafez analyses various examples of oppositional right-wing parties as well as governing 'mainstream' parties in dealing in the reproduction of this figure.