Exercising Power from the Outside - The Effects of Rasmus Paludan’s Quran Burnings in Denmark and Beyond 

Abstract

Since 2019, anti-Islam non-parliamentary activists have explored the limits to freedom of speech in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands through their provocative Quran desecration acts. Using the non-parliamentarian arena to exercise power from a position of minority, the far-right activist Rasmus Paludan and his party were able to effectively push the Danish constitutional boundaries, while at the same time affecting the geopolitical situation. While the protests so far only have had legal repercussions regarding blasphemy and freedom of speech in Denmark, it clearly demonstrates that non-parliamentary far-right activists also hold certain legislative powers.

Keywords

• Blasphemy
• Far right parties
• Free Speech
• Hate Speech
• Obstruktion [Politik]
• Protest