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Last week, the Documentation Centre Political Islam (DPI) hosted this year's Conference on Extremism and Radicalisation Austria (CERA). Entitled ‘Religious Transformation of State and Society’, the conference took place on 25 September at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. Experts from academia and practice presented their research findings and then debated them in plenary. Alexander Weissenburger, head of the DPI research team, addressed the audience on behalf of the board. The event was moderated by Kathrin Hanzl.

The first substantive input was provided by Walter Posch, an expert on Iran and the Middle East from the Austrian Armed Forces National Defence Academy. In his keynote speech, he outlined the political use of religion as a factor in shaping identity. From a political perspective, religion fulfils a dual function: on the one hand, it can secure existing power relations, but on the other hand, it can also be used as a means of mobilising opposition to them.

This year's CERA featured three panels on the topics of ‘Society: Children, Gender & Religious Minorities’, ‘Concepts of Religious Political Leadership’, and ‘Transformation, Indoctrination & Confrontation: Changing Society from Within and from Outside’. Among other things, the panels addressed political Islam and gender equality, Islamist movements in Yemen, Iran and Afghanistan, and Christian extremism. In addition to DPI researcher Weissenburger, speakers included Nazif Shahrani, Rebecca Schönenbach, Hessam Habibi Doroh, Michaela Quast-Neulinger, Lucian Reinfandt, Evelyn Bokler, Christoph Gümmer, and Daniel Hikes-Wurm.

Misogyny, governance models and indoctrination

The first panel focused on the hitherto little-researched significance of misogyny in Islamist groups, even though this aspect plays a central ideological role and contributes to radicalisation. Islamist gender images are based on a hierarchical dichotomy: women within the group are desexualised and idealised, while women outside the group are devalued as ‘impure’. This misogynistic construct serves to control women and influence male followers. These dynamics were analysed in more detail using examples. The panel also discussed the Sunni missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat and its transnational networks. Another presentation addressed the activities of the Taliban in Afghanistan, external influences and the resulting consequences for minorities there.

The second panel examined various religiously extremist models of governance. One topic discussed was neo-integralism, a right-wing Catholic intellectual movement that rejects secular liberal democracy. The Shiite Islamist Houthi movement in Yemen, which came to power in 2015, was also discussed. It has ruled over some 20 million people for a decade and is one of the most successful Islamist movements of the present day. Finally, the panel examined the model of government of the Sunni Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan.

In the third panel, the speakers discussed indoctrination and confrontation in the context of social change. On the one hand, some Islamist groups justify violence with religious arguments, while on the other hand, other studies show that many devout Muslims find comfort, strength and renunciation of violence in their faith. The need for a differentiated view of the Islamic faith was pointed out. Furthermore, the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran and its relations with right-wing extremist actors were analysed. Current developments show that liberal democracies in the European Union are increasingly confronted with hybrid warfare from various movements. These movements use new technologies as geopolitical instruments to exert influence.