Assemblages of (In)Security: Political Islam, Operation Luxor, and the Rise of Soft Authoritarian Security Governance in Austria

Abstract

Over the past few decades, Austria's conservative and right-wing parties have increasingly framed Islam as a source of terrorism and national insecurity. The center-right Austrian People's Party's (ÖVP) response to a November 2, 2020, attack by an Islamic State (IS)-linked assailant in Vienna has had profound consequences for many Muslims. As part of several antiterror measures, the ÖVP sought to criminalize and target “political Islam,” establishing the Documentation Center Political Islam, and launching the so-called Operation Luxor, a large-scale police raid targeting over 100 suspects. However, 2 years after the operation, Austria's appellate court ruled the raid unlawful, citing the lack of initial suspicion. This article examines the assemblage of actors, discourses, and practices that construct the concept of “political Islam” in contemporary Austria and investigates the consequences of its implementation. I argue that political Islam constitutes a form of epistemic violence, with the ÖVP using the concept to cast Muslims as a racialized threat and quintessential Other, thus justifying political violence against them in the name of national security. Additionally, I argue that these security measures signal a shift toward soft authoritarian governance in Austria, marked by violations of the rule of law and the erosion of parliamentary oversight accountability.