The racialization of radicalization and terrorism: Belgian political language on Muslims and Islam

While racializing political language about Muslims has been prevalent in Western Europe throughout modern history, the events of 9/11 and the bombings in Madrid further elevated political suspicion towards Islam, ultimately making Muslims a suspect community. Western European political discourses have framed acts of terrorism and radicalization as inherent to the Islamic tradition, resulting in problematic notions such as ‘Islamic terrorism. This article examines the evolving narratives on Islam and the intricate interplay between religion, language and political discourses in Belgium. The research is based on a Critical Discourse Analysis of debates held in the Belgian First Chamber of Representatives over a 21-year span. It focusses on how political language is used to talk about Muslims in Belgium and how radicalization and terrorism are intertwined with Islam. This research concludes that over time, Belgian political narratives have intertwined ‘radicalization’ and ‘terrorism’ to the religion of Islam, contributing to the racialization of these concepts. While 9/11 is viewed as a pivotal moment in the racialization discourse towards Muslims, this research identifies the Madrid bombings as a more significant catalyst for racializing political discourses. Both in terms of language and policies, the conflation of Islam with terrorism and radicalization became deeply embedded in political discourses and responses shaped by events such as the departure of Belgian nationals to Syria, the attacks in Paris and Brussels. A shift in narrative appears in 2017 with political discourses incorporating other ideologies, predominantly the extreme-right, into discussions on radicalization. The association of extreme right with the concept of terrorism however is less reoccurring and continues to revolve around the religion of Islam.