Ahmed Mohamed and the Imperial Necessity of Islamophilia

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Volume 3, Issue 1

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Ahmed Mohamed and the Imperial Necessity of Islamophilia

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Author(s): Nazia Kazi

Publication date (Print): Fall 2015

Journal: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

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Abstract

In this article, I connect the arrest of clock-making youth Ahmed Mohamed in Irving, Texas to the U.S. carceral imperial state. I argue that his ordeal lies at the interstices of empire, race, and the school-to-prison pipeline, and I consider the ways in which Islamophilia – or “good Muslim” politics – serves as a veneer for persistent criminalization of youth of color, both through domestic procedures of policing as well as through global mechanisms of the U.S. war against terrorism. Based upon my fieldwork with Islamic representative organizations (IRO's), I show that the discourse on matters of inclusion and political change in the U.S. is deeply confined by colonialist contours of acceptability.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Nazia Kazi

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): islastudj

Title: Islamophobia Studies Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 23258381

ISSN (Electronic): 2325839X

Publication date (Print): Fall 2015

Volume: 3

Issue: 1

Pages: 115-126

Affiliations

Stockton University

Article

Publisher ID: islastudj.3.1.0115

DOI: 10.13169/islastudj.3.1.0115

SO-VID: 79cac071-cc7c-4b42-b418-4fd06ef7ee2e

Copyright statement: © Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project, Center for Race and Gender, University of California, Berkeley

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History

ScienceOpen disciplines: Social & Behavioral Sciences

Endnotes

Susser, Ida, and Jeff Maskovsky. 2009. Rethinking America: The Imperial Homeland in the 21st Century . Paradigm Publishers
Kundnani, Arun. 2014. The Muslims are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror . New York: Verso Books.
http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/11/08/rec.bush.transcript/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/5443448/Barack-Obama-Cairo-speech-2009-the-full-transcript.html
Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs : 22–49.
Bakalian, Anny, and Mehdi Bozorgmehr. 2009. Backlash 9/11: Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans Respond . Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Pg. 243.
http://gawker.com/obamas-drone-program-probably-would-have-killed-ahmed-t-1731145274
Susser, Ida, and Jeff Maskovsky. 2009.
Naber, N. 2013. “Imperial Feminism, Islamophobia, and the Egyptian Revolution.” Jadaliyya, February, 11 . http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12584/transnational-anti-imperialism-and-middle-east-wom
Salaita, S. 2015. Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom . Chicago: Haymarket Books. Pg. 79.
Naber, N. 2013.
Ignatieff, M. 2003. “The American empire.” New York Times Magazine , 5.
Ho, E. 2004. “Empire through diasporic eyes: A view from the other boat.” Comparative Studies in Society and History , 46(02), Pg. 228.
ibid, 232 & 239.
Rana, J. 2011. Terrifying Muslims: race and labor in the South Asian diaspora . Durham and London: Duke University Press. Pg. 77.
Harvey, D. 2003. The New Imperialism . London and New York: Oxford University Press. Pg. 22.
Kumar, D. 2012. Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire . New York: Haymarket Books.
ibid, 134.
Singh, N.P. 1998. Culture/wars: Recoding empire in an age of democracy. American Quarterly , 50(3), 471–522. Pg. 473.
Myrdal, G. 1944. An American dilemma: The Negro Problem and American Democracy . New York.
Marable, M. 2011. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention . New York: Penguin.
Bloom, J., & Martin, W. E. 2013. Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party . Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Grewal, Z. 2013. Islam is a Foreign Country . New York: NYU Press.
Shakir, Z. 2013. “A Sign of the End Times.”
Mamdani, M. 2005 Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror . New York: Random House. Pg. 23.
Grewal, Z. 2013.
Grosfoguel, R. 2004. Race and ethnicity or racialized ethnicities? Identities within global coloniality. Ethnicities , 4(3), 315–336 and Quijano, A. 2007. Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural studies , 21(2–3), 168–178.
Maldonado-Torres, N. 2007. On the Coloniality of Being: Contributions to the development of a concept 1. Cultural studies , 21(2–3), 240–270.
ibid, 243
Crapanzano, V. 2003. “Reflections on Hope as a Category of Social and Psychological Analysis.” Cultural Anthropology 18(1): 3–32.
Salaita, 2015. Pg. 80.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Susser, Ida, and Jeff Maskovsky. 2009. Rethinking America: The Imperial Homeland in the 21st Century . Paradigm Publishers

[2] Kundnani, Arun. 2014. The Muslims are Coming!: Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror . New York: Verso Books.

[3] http://edition.cnn.com/2001/US/11/08/rec.bush.transcript/

[4] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/5443448/Barack-Obama-Cairo-speech-2009-the-full-transcript.html

[5] Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs : 22–49.

[6] Bakalian, Anny, and Mehdi Bozorgmehr. 2009. Backlash 9/11: Middle Eastern and Muslim Americans Respond . Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Pg. 243.

[7] http://gawker.com/obamas-drone-program-probably-would-have-killed-ahmed-t-1731145274

[8] Susser, Ida, and Jeff Maskovsky. 2009.

[9] Naber, N. 2013. “Imperial Feminism, Islamophobia, and the Egyptian Revolution.” Jadaliyya, February, 11 . http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/12584/transnational-anti-imperialism-and-middle-east-wom

[10] Salaita, S. 2015. Uncivil Rites: Palestine and the Limits of Academic Freedom . Chicago: Haymarket Books. Pg. 79.

[11] Naber, N. 2013.

[12] Ignatieff, M. 2003. “The American empire.” New York Times Magazine , 5.

[13] Ho, E. 2004. “Empire through diasporic eyes: A view from the other boat.” Comparative Studies in Society and History , 46(02), Pg. 228.

[14] ibid, 232 & 239.

[15] Rana, J. 2011. Terrifying Muslims: race and labor in the South Asian diaspora . Durham and London: Duke University Press. Pg. 77.

[16] Harvey, D. 2003. The New Imperialism . London and New York: Oxford University Press. Pg. 22.

[17] Kumar, D. 2012. Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire . New York: Haymarket Books.

[18] ibid, 134.

[19] Singh, N.P. 1998. Culture/wars: Recoding empire in an age of democracy. American Quarterly , 50(3), 471–522. Pg. 473.

[20] Myrdal, G. 1944. An American dilemma: The Negro Problem and American Democracy . New York.

[21] Marable, M. 2011. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention . New York: Penguin.

[22] Bloom, J., & Martin, W. E. 2013. Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party . Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

[23] Grewal, Z. 2013. Islam is a Foreign Country . New York: NYU Press.

[24] Shakir, Z. 2013. “A Sign of the End Times.”

[25] Mamdani, M. 2005 Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War, and the Roots of Terror . New York: Random House. Pg. 23.

[26] Grewal, Z. 2013.

[27] Grosfoguel, R. 2004. Race and ethnicity or racialized ethnicities? Identities within global coloniality. Ethnicities , 4(3), 315–336 and Quijano, A. 2007. Coloniality and modernity/rationality. Cultural studies , 21(2–3), 168–178.

[28] Maldonado-Torres, N. 2007. On the Coloniality of Being: Contributions to the development of a concept 1. Cultural studies , 21(2–3), 240–270.

[29] ibid, 243

[30] Crapanzano, V. 2003. “Reflections on Hope as a Category of Social and Psychological Analysis.” Cultural Anthropology 18(1): 3–32.

[31] Salaita, 2015. Pg. 80.