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A Measure of Islamophobia
Abstract
The growing literature on Islamophobia is dominated by empirical studies, the analysis of media representations and socio-psychological approaches, while many of these studies have been valuable in illustrating the range of expressions of Islamophobia; they have been less successful in understanding the phenomena, and mapping its relationship with other forms of discriminatory practices such as racism and anti-Semitism. This article presents a conceptual examination of the category of Islamophobia and the work it is called upon to do in contemporary debates, as prelude to a discussion about what a theorization of this concept could contribute to the field of social analysis and policy.
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To what extent cinematic representations mirror the actual use of slang by American criminal fraternity or to what extent American criminals use the language of fictional gangsters to sound like authentic gangsters is not that clear cut.
For details about phronetic social science see Flyvbjerg (2001).
It's not always clear whether it is some Muslims or potentially all Muslims who are the source of threat. One of the common tropes of Islamophobic discourse is the slippage from the few and the some to the many and then the all.
See Vakil (2010:23–44) for more details about the genealogy of Islamophobia.
The Runnymede Trust is registered charity and was founded in 1968 as independent think-tank dedicated to producing research for the furtherance of race equality. It has produced a number of landmark reports and research on the challenges of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Britain.
See Khan 2006 for a succinct description of the interplay with international and national mobilizations which facilitate the opposition to the publication of The Satanic Verses.
For details of the immigrant imaginary see Sayyid (2004).
This position is most forcibly argued by Kenan Malik on many occasions and across many platforms, see Malik (2009). See also Hasan (2009) for similar critique of multiculturalism as facilitating conservative Muslim practices and groups.
See the discussion by Baker and Hacker on the prevalence of this analytical approach to the definition, which they trace within Western philosophy from Plato to the early Wittgenstein (2004: 184–190), as they suggest the legitimate use of a definition maybe no more than to circumscribe the range of an enquiry.
For an elaboration of the concept of family resemblance see Baker and Hacker (2004: 191).
Recently the OIC has declared that in future its membership will be restricted to countries in which at least fifty percent of the population is Muslim. This would halt attempts by India and Russia to seek full membership.
The Muslim–Marxist–Multiculturalist alliance that Brevik railed against to justify his massacre against young members of the Norwegian socialist party was not a just a personal delusion. The existence of such a ∗convergence is one of the key tropes of Islamophobic discourse found among neo-conservatives and their fellow travellers.
Websites such as Jihad Watch, Bare Naked Islam, Campus Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Gates of Vienna, just to name a few, are replete with these kinds of stories, allegations and assertions.
See Hatem Baizan's (2012) comparison of the FBI clandestine operations against Civil Rights organizations and individuals and recent counter-intelligence operations against those they consider to be Muslims terrorists.
See Meer and Modood (2010) for an elaboration of this argument.
I do not mean that all Muslims oppose Islamophobia but rather that most of them experience its effects, and that makes it difficult for them to be indifferent to it. The existence of Muslims who repudiate the concept of Islamophobia should not be more surprising than the existence of highly problematic liminal figures that are said to inhabit worlds produced by racialized hierarchies: the ‘self-hating Jew’, ‘Uncle Tom’ or ‘vendidos’…
Diouf (1998) details the spirited manner in which enslaved African Muslims tried to maintain their religious identity in the Americas, thus the de-Islamization that occurred was not because of a weak attachment to Islam, but rather the enormous effort made to prevent these Muslims from being Muslim.
Francois Soyer (2013: 408–410) draws a chilling parallel between the quest of Philip II and his advisors for “a final remedy” to the Morisco problem and Nazi designs for a final solution.
I am using rhetoric in the sense that Stanley Fish deploys as being synomous with anti-foundationalism, see Fish, 1990, 343–340.