Governing the Fear of Islam: Thinking Islamophobia through the Politics of Secular Affect in Historical Debate

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ReOrient

Volume 4, Issue 1

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Governing the Fear of Islam: Thinking Islamophobia through the Politics of Secular Affect in Historical Debate

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Author(s): Lorenz Trein

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2018

Journal: ReOrient

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: Islamophobia, Orientalism, affective governance, secular affect, historical dimensions of Islam debates in Germany

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Abstract

This article reflects on the historio-political quest for continuity and discontinuity between Orientalism and Islamophobia by looking at theories of emotions and the politics of secular affect in historical debate. It is argued that both contemporary Islamophobia and early twentieth-century colonial discourse converge in the transformation of Islam into a political subject matter of “affective governance” (Nitzan Shoshan), the rationale of which is to define and establish political and religious subjectivities that ensure and justify governability of Muslims within the respective settings of the colonial and the postcolonial state. The material under consideration is taken from debates on Islam in the German context both from the imperial era and from contemporary attempts to politicize Islam in terms of remaking German nationalism.

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Lorenz Trein

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169

Journal ID (publisher-id): reorient

Title: ReOrient

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 20555601

ISSN (Electronic): 2055561X

Publication date (Print): Autumn 2018

Volume: 4

Issue: 1

Pages: 44-58

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LMU Munich, Germany

Article

Publisher ID: reorient.4.1.0044

DOI: 10.13169/reorient.4.1.0044

SO-VID: 4cf0092a-433e-45d4-b8c0-63a30ec62905

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

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References

Ahmed S. (2010) The Promise of Happiness . Durham and London: Duke University Press.
Ahmed, S. (2014) The Cultural Politics of Emotion . 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Asad, T. (2003) Formations of the Secular. Christianity, Islam, Modernity . Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Axenfeld, K. (1910) Die Ausbreitung des Islam in Afrika und ihre Bedeutung für die deutschen Kolonien. In Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses 1910 zu Berlin am 6., 7. und 8. Oktober 1910 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 629–38.
Basay-Yildiz, S. (2016) Verbot als Befreiung? Die Burka-Debatte zeigt eine besonders populä re Form der Islamophobie: Ein Zwischenruf. Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 31, 9.
Becker, C. H. (1910) Staat und Mission in der Islampolitik. In Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses 1910 zu Berlin am 6., 7. und 8. Oktober 1910 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 638–51.
Beydoun, K. (2018) American Islamophobia. Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear . Oakland: University of California Press.
Bleich, E. (2011) What is Islamophobia and how much is there? Theorizing and measuring an emerging comparative concept. American Behavioral Scientist . 55(12), 1581–600.
Deutsche Islam Konferenz (2012) Muslime in Deutschland – deutsche Muslime . Berlin: Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Fritsche, K. D. (2013) Address of welcome. In Tagungsband Muslimfeindlichkeit – Phä nomen und Gegenstrategien. Beiträ ge der Fachtagung der Deutschen Islam Konferenz am 4. und 5. Dezember 2012 in Berlin . Berlin: Federal Ministry of the Interior, 8–13. Available at http://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DIK/DE/Downloads/LenkungsausschussPlenum/2013-tagungsband-muslimfeindlichkeit-dik.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (accessed 27 May 2018).
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Krastev, I. (2017) Europadä mmerung. Ein Essay . Bischoff, M. (Trans.). Berlin: Suhrkamp.
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Meer, N. (2014) Islamophobia and postcolonialism: Continuity, Orientalism and Muslim consciousness. Patterns of Prejudice . 48(5), 500–15.
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Shoshan, N. (2016) The Management of Hate. Nation, Affect, and the Governance of Right-Wing Extremism in Germany . Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.
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Trein, L. (2017) Islamophobia reconsidered. Approaching emotions, affects, and historical layers of Orientalism in the study of religion. Method and Theory in the Study of Religion . 29(3), 205–20.
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Vakil, A. (2010) Is the Islam in Islamophobia the same as Islam in Anti-Islam; Or, when is it Islamophobia time? In Sayyid, S. and Vakil, A. (eds.), Thinking through Islamophobia. Global Perspectives . London: Hurst & Company, 23–43.
Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses (1906) 1905 zu Berlin am 5., 6. und 7. Oktober 1905 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses (1910) 1910 zu Berlin am 6., 7. und 8. Oktober 1910 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.

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Comment on this article

[1] Ahmed S. (2010) The Promise of Happiness . Durham and London: Duke University Press.

[2] Ahmed, S. (2014) The Cultural Politics of Emotion . 2nd ed. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

[3] Asad, T. (2003) Formations of the Secular. Christianity, Islam, Modernity . Stanford: Stanford University Press.

[4] Axenfeld, K. (1910) Die Ausbreitung des Islam in Afrika und ihre Bedeutung für die deutschen Kolonien. In Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses 1910 zu Berlin am 6., 7. und 8. Oktober 1910 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 629–38.

[5] Basay-Yildiz, S. (2016) Verbot als Befreiung? Die Burka-Debatte zeigt eine besonders populä re Form der Islamophobie: Ein Zwischenruf. Süddeutsche Zeitung , August 31, 9.

[6] Becker, C. H. (1910) Staat und Mission in der Islampolitik. In Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses 1910 zu Berlin am 6., 7. und 8. Oktober 1910 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 638–51.

[7] Beydoun, K. (2018) American Islamophobia. Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear . Oakland: University of California Press.

[8] Bleich, E. (2011) What is Islamophobia and how much is there? Theorizing and measuring an emerging comparative concept. American Behavioral Scientist . 55(12), 1581–600.

[9] Deutsche Islam Konferenz (2012) Muslime in Deutschland – deutsche Muslime . Berlin: Federal Ministry of the Interior.

[10] Fritsche, K. D. (2013) Address of welcome. In Tagungsband Muslimfeindlichkeit – Phä nomen und Gegenstrategien. Beiträ ge der Fachtagung der Deutschen Islam Konferenz am 4. und 5. Dezember 2012 in Berlin . Berlin: Federal Ministry of the Interior, 8–13. Available at http://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DIK/DE/Downloads/LenkungsausschussPlenum/2013-tagungsband-muslimfeindlichkeit-dik.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (accessed 27 May 2018).

[11] Froberger, J. (1906) Welches ist der Kulturwert des Islam für koloniale Entwickelung? In Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses 1905 zu Berlin am 5., 6. und 7. Oktober 1905 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 527–31.

[12] German Islam Conference (2011) Interim Report on the Work of the Working Group “Prevention Work With Youth.” Berlin: Federal Ministry of Interior, March 29. Available at http://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DIK/EN/Downloads/Plenum/Zwischenbericht%20AG%20Praevention-2011.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (accessed 27 May 2018).

[13] Gottschalk, S. (2017) Kolonialismus und Islam. Deutsche und britische Herrschaft in Westafrika (1900–1914) . Frankfurt / New York: Campus.

[14] Grosse, P. (2005) Die Deutschen Kolonialkongresse in Berlin 1902, 1905 und 1910. In van der Heyden, U. and Zeller, J. (eds.), “…Macht und Anteil an der Weltherrschaft”. Berlin und der deutsche Kolonialismus . Münster: Unrast, 95–100.

[15] Habermas, R. (2014) Debates on Islam in imperial Germany. In Motadel, D. (ed.), Islam and the European Empires . New York: Oxford University Press, 233–55.

[16] Hartmann, M. (1912) Islam, Mission, Politik . Leipzig: Otto Wigand.

[17] Krastev, I. (2017) Europadä mmerung. Ein Essay . Bischoff, M. (Trans.). Berlin: Suhrkamp.

[18] Laclau, E. and Mouffe, C. (2001) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy. Towards a Radical Democratic Politics . 2nd ed. London: Verso.

[19] Mahmood, S. (2009) Religious reason and secular affect: An incommensurable divide? Critical Inquiry . 35(4), 836–62.

[20] Meer, N. (2014) Islamophobia and postcolonialism: Continuity, Orientalism and Muslim consciousness. Patterns of Prejudice . 48(5), 500–15.

[21] Moors, A. (2012) The affective power of the face veil. Between disgust and fascination. In Houtman, D. and Meyer, B. (eds.), Things. Religion and the Question of Materiality . New York: Fordham University Press, 282–95.

[22] Müller, T. (2017) Constructing Islam and Secularism in the German Islam Conference. In Anderson, P. and Hargreaves, J. (eds.), Muslims in the UK and Europe III . Cambridge: University of Cambridge: Centre of Islamic Studies, 48–62.

[23] Pernau, M., Jordheim, H., Bashkin, O., Bailey, C., Benesch, O., Ifversen, J., Kia, M., Majumdar, R., Messner, A., Park, M., Saada, E., Singh, M. and Wigen, E. (2015) Civilizing Emotions: Concepts in Nineteenth Century Asia and Europe . New York: Oxford University Press.

[24] Plamper, J. (2015) The History of Emotions: An Introduction . Oxford: Oxford University Press.

[25] Said, E. (1978) Orientalism . London: Penguin.

[26] Sayyid, S. (2010) Out of the devil's dictionary. In Sayyid, S. and Vakil, A. (eds.), Thinking through Islamophobia. Global Perspectives . London: Hurst & Company, 5–18.

[27] Schaefer, D. (2015) Religious Affects. Animality, Evolution, and Power . Durham and London: Duke University Press.

[28] Schmid, A. (2009) Preface. In Haugg, S., Müssig, S. and Stichs, A. (eds.), Muslim Life in Germany. A Study Conducted on Behalf of the German Islam Conference . Nuremberg: Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. Available at http://www.deutsche-islam-konferenz.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/DIK/EN/Downloads/Plenum/MLD-Vollversion-eng-dik.pdf?__blob=publicationFile (accessed 27 May 2018).

[29] Seibt, G. (2016) Der Kult des Eigenen. Das “Völkische” ist die kleine, aggressive Schwester des “Nationalen”. Und was ist dann das “Identitä re”? Eine Begriffskunde. Süddeutsche Zeitung , September 14, 11.

[30] Shoshan, N. (2014) Managing hate: Political delinquency and affective governance in Germany. Cultural Anthropology . 29(1), 150–72.

[31] Shoshan, N. (2016) The Management of Hate. Nation, Affect, and the Governance of Right-Wing Extremism in Germany . Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.

[32] Tezcan, L. (2012) Das Muslimische Subjekt. Verfangen im Dialog der Deutschen Islam Konferenz . Konstanz: Konstanz University Press.

[33] Trein, L. (2013) Die Gegenwart der Religionsgeschichtsschreibung. Zur religionswissenschaftlichen Diskussion um Europä ische Religionsgeschichte. Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte . 65(3), 209–23.

[34] Trein, L. (2015) Begriffener Islam. Zur diskursiven Formation eines Kollektivsingulars und zum Islamdiskurs einer europä ischen Wissenschafts- und Religionsgeschichte . Würzburg: Ergon-Verlag.

[35] Trein, L. (2017) Islamophobia reconsidered. Approaching emotions, affects, and historical layers of Orientalism in the study of religion. Method and Theory in the Study of Religion . 29(3), 205–20.

[36] Ural, Y. (2017) Is animal religion a Christian religion? Available at https://syndicate.network/symposia/philosophy/religious-affects/ (accessed 17 April 2018).

[37] Vakil, A. (2010) Is the Islam in Islamophobia the same as Islam in Anti-Islam; Or, when is it Islamophobia time? In Sayyid, S. and Vakil, A. (eds.), Thinking through Islamophobia. Global Perspectives . London: Hurst & Company, 23–43.

[38] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses (1906) 1905 zu Berlin am 5., 6. und 7. Oktober 1905 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.

[39] Verhandlungen des Deutschen Kolonialkongresses (1910) 1910 zu Berlin am 6., 7. und 8. Oktober 1910 . Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.

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Governing the Fear of Islam: Thinking Islamophobia through the Politics of Secular Affect in Historical Debate

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