Replication Data for: Discrimination against Muslims, the role of networks and terrorist attacks in Western Europe: The cases of United Kingdom, France and Italy

In the last few years, a wave of Islamist-related terrorist attacks took place in Western Europe, mainly in France and Belgium but with relevant episodes also in the United Kingdom whereas so far Italy did not suffer any attack of this kind. Each of these countries hosts a large number of Muslim immigrants and communities, participated in military missions in the Middle East, and has been repeatedly threatened by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) or other Islamist-related radical groups. What then explains the difference in the number and intensity of Islamist-related terrorist attacks in Western European countries? Using qualitative cross-case comparison case studies and relying on the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and the Association of Religion Data Archive (ARDA), I argue that countries directly discriminating toward Islamic communities are more likely to suffer these kinds of attacks because this discrimination causes grievances against the host state within the discriminated minority. This effect is higher in the presence of religious and cultural networks where these grievances can be brought at the center of the public debate and be connected together because of the presence of large audiences, resulting in the possible development of more radicalized positions of small portions of the discriminated community. This is particularly true for highly secular states like France, where the interpretation of secularism makes accommodation for religious minorities extremely challenging, also resulting in laws that regulate religious behavior of minorities, therefore increasing outrage and frustration of the minority group.

近年来，西欧地区掀起了多股与伊斯兰极端主义相关的恐怖袭击浪潮，主要集中于法国与比利时，英国亦发生过相关袭击事件；而截至目前，意大利尚未遭遇此类袭击。上述西欧各国均接纳了大量穆斯林移民与穆斯林社群，均曾参与中东地区军事行动，且多次遭到伊拉克与叙利亚伊斯兰国（Islamic State of Iraq and Syria，ISIS）及其他与伊斯兰极端主义相关的激进组织的威胁。那么，究竟是什么因素造成了西欧各国在与伊斯兰极端主义相关的恐怖袭击的数量与烈度上的差异？本研究采用质性跨案例比较研究方法，依托全球恐怖主义数据库（Global Terrorism Database, GTD）与宗教数据档案协会（Association of Religion Data Archive, ARDA）开展分析，提出核心论点：对穆斯林社群实施直接歧视的国家，更易遭遇此类恐怖袭击——此类歧视会令受歧视的少数群体滋生针对东道国的不满情绪。若同时存在宗教与文化网络，这一效应会更为显著：此类网络可借助庞大的受众群体，将受歧视群体的不满情绪推向公共辩论的核心，并将各类不满情绪串联整合，进而可能促使受歧视群体中的少数成员形成极端化立场。对于法国这类高度世俗化国家而言，这一情况尤为突出：法国对世俗主义的解读使得对宗教少数群体的包容极为困难，甚至出台了规范少数群体宗教行为的相关法律，进而加剧了少数群体的愤怒与挫败感。