The “Muslim Menace”, Violence and the De-Politicising Elements of the New Culturalism

Abstract

This paper looks critically at the idea that the causes of political violence can be explained through a focus on innate human propensities rather than contingent social considerations. It traces the origins of this premise from socio-biological accounts of conflict causality, before going on to discuss perspectives that place a similarly determinative emphasis on cultural factors. It argues that the use of such culturalism has, having been elaborated during the Balkan wars of the mid-1990s, become extended and developed to direct attention towards the apparently peculiarly threatening nature of Muslims and Islam as a key part of the “global war on terror”. In conclusion, it suggests that characterising Muslim identity in this way ultimately serves three de-politicising purposes; firstly, it tends to endorse the status quo, secondly, it helps to legitimise a comprehensive program of securitisation, and thirdly, it offers an account of the causes of political violence which neither implicates external factors nor confers a responsibility to act.