Religious intolerance and Euroscepticism

Research on Euroscepticism focuses increasingly on the role of group identities: national identities and attitudes towards multiculturalism. Yet hardly any attention has been paid to the way in which religious intolerance shapes Euroscepticism. We argue that religious intolerance influences not only...

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Published inEuropean Union politics Vol. 12; no. 3; pp. 359 - 379
Main Authors Hobolt, Sara B., Van der Brug, Wouter, De Vreese, Claes H., Boomgaarden, Hajo G., Hinrichsen, Malte C.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.09.2011
Subjects
Attitudes
Cultural Pluralism
EU enlargement
Europe
European Union
Euroscepticism
Group Identity
Ireland
Multiculturalism
National Identity
Netherlands
Prejudice
Religion
Social Identity
Turkey
Euroscepticism
prejudices
religious intolerance
EU enlargement
Turkey
religion
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Summary:Research on Euroscepticism focuses increasingly on the role of group identities: national identities and attitudes towards multiculturalism. Yet hardly any attention has been paid to the way in which religious intolerance shapes Euroscepticism. We argue that religious intolerance influences not only diffuse Euroscepticism, but also more specifically opposition to enlargement of the European Union with Turkey. To examine the relationship between religious intolerance and Euroscepticism, this article analyses unique data from two representative surveys conducted in Ireland and the Netherlands. Our findings show that religious intolerance is indeed a powerful determinant of attitudes towards the European Union and that it particularly shapes people’s attitudes towards future Turkish enlargement. This study therefore contributes to the literature by demonstrating that social identities are strong determinants of Euroscepticism.
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ISSN:1465-1165
1741-2757
DOI:10.1177/1465116511404620