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How Muslims Became Corn
Abstract
Over the past 16 years, the global “war on terror” has expanded in scope, ranging from US-led military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, domestic counter-terrorism and counter-radicalization legislation, and mass surveillance of Muslim communities to the “Muslim ban” on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. This expansion in scope has normalized the idea of Muslims as threats to and within Western societies. This article analyzes this process of securitization, how Muslims are constructed as terrorists, and threats to national security, through a discussion of three books that illustrate how violence, politics, and state power are intricately related in the production of the “war on terror.” It advances a critique of the relationship between state power and the construction of knowledge about Muslims as terrorists, whether in the US government-supported counter-radicalization industry or in the documentation of Muslim experiences as prisoners in Guantanamo Bay's prison. Last, this article discusses Muslim agency and the position of racialized scholars in the “war on terror” as a question of authority and scholarship. It notes the gap between those whose voices are legitimized as “experts” on “explaining Muslims” in ways that conform to accepted assumptions about Muslims as threats, and the voices and experiences of racialized scholars whose expertise is considered not “objective” enough.
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