![[Farid Hafez]](https://bridge.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Screenshot-2026-05-04-at-10.45.01-AM.jpeg "Farid Hafez")
The Bridge Initiative is a multi-year research project on Islamophobia housed in Georgetown University.
The Bridge Initiative aims to disseminate original and accessible research, offers engaging analysis and commentary on contemporary issues, and hosts a wide repository of educational resources to inform the general public about Islamophobia.
Research & Resources
Islamophobia and Translations of Securitization in the UK, France, and Italy
Islamophobia and Translations of Securitization in the UK, France and Italy contributes to research on Islamophobia by exploring how three Western European mainstream left parties (the British Labour Party, the French Socialist Party, and the Italian Democratic Party) have securitized Islam. While there is abundant research on right-wing Islamophobia and on the right-wing nationalist appropriation of liberal-progressive themes, the securitization of Islam by left-wing parties has been mostly neglected.
Governing Islam in Austria and Germany: From Colonial Times to the Present
In this talk, Farid Hafez discusses his latest book on the legacy of colonialism in the governance of Islam in contemporary Austria and Germany. Based on the experience of Austro-Hungarian rule over Bosnia and Hercegovina and the German Kaiserreich’s rule in Tanzania, Togo, and Cameroon with respect to its Muslim subjects, he shows the continuities and ruptures with the Nazi Reich’s incorporation of Muslims in its polity as well as contemporary Islam policies or Islampolitik in postwar Austria and Germany.
The Online Networks Spreading Islamophobia
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Marc Owen Jones, an expert on disinformation and digital authoritarianism, about how disinformation networks spread Islamophobic content online. We explore what disinformation is, how governments weaponize it for political gain, and the real-world consequences of false information.