Islamophobia as a Factor of Party's Political Activity by Example of the UK

<p>According to the up-to-date information, about 3 million Muslims live in Great Britain. The percentage of Muslims is expected to increase dramatically in the next decades in the United Kingdom. Receiving country&rsquo;s indigenous population feels anxious and even fearful because of visible Muslim presence. People are afraid of unemployment and crimes due to migrants. Islamic radicalism is also widespread among British Muslims. All mentioned above is a part of phenomenon known as Islamophobia. The press conduces proliferation of this phenomenon actively.</p><p>Due to this fact, the main goal of our research is to determine political potential of Islamophobia circulating in the top British press. The tasks of this research: 1. To determine theoretical aspects of Islamophobia problem; 2. To analyze the reasons of inculcation and development of Islamophobia in modern Great Britain; to find out the extent of the negative attitudes of the population towards visitant Muslims; 3. To reconstruct the image of Islam and Muslims presented in the top British print media; 4. To explore why the British newspapers and political parties use Islamophobic discource. We focus on the study of two printed newspapers &ndash; &ldquo;The Daily Telegraph&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Independent&rdquo; Our choice is determined by the fact that these newspapers are large-circulated and politically committed by dominant parliamentary parties.</p><p>In the first chapter of our research we study theoretical and historical aspects of Islamophobia. In the second chapter we view its specificity in the UK. Analysis of scientific resources and data allows us to formulate main reasons of Islamophobia appearing in the society and the speed of its spread. In the last chapter we analyse news relating to Muslims and Islam in two mentioned above British newspapers before the General election 2010. To sum up, our research broaden the understanding of the real level of Islamophobia and its role in parties&rsquo; political struggle.</p>