Forms Of Islamophobia Research Articles

FROM ISLAMOPHOBIA TO NEO-ISLAMOPHOBIA: A NEW STYLE OF GOVERNANCE IN THE WEST

Islamophobia is thought to be a modernized version of Orientalism, which was initially used to justify European political actions against the Ottoman Empire and, later, after its decline, to support their imperialist pursuits in the Muslim world. It is now used as a strategy for governing Western societies, particularly the United States, where people are forced to live with historical prejudices against Islam and Muslims. The nature of this animosity points to a new form of Islamophobia, which, like the old one, appears in discourses and practices alike. This study aims to ascertain how Islamophobia manifests as new Islamophobia in the modern West. It investigates the presence of this phenomenon in US media discourse using the theoretical framework of securitization. The researchers employed an analytical framework adapted from Discourse-Historical-Approach and studied 3153 news and opinion pieces from US newspapers and wire services between November 2016 and January 2017. This study has revealed an Islamophobic society where Muslims were the targets of hate crimes due to their Islamic identity. It has been found that Trump's anti-Islamic rhetoric during his presidential campaign contributed to the emergence of this new societal syndrome. It concludes that "neo-Islamophobia" is a name for a new style of governance adopted by some Western politicians who capitalize on Islamophobia as a political strategy to gain power, thereby shaping the existing social order into an Islamophobic one. The researchers recommend similar inquiries into other contexts too.

Crusades, Christ, and Christmas

What is striking in the twenty years since 9/11 is not only the renewed attention to religion in the Western public sphere but the forms this attention has taken. Suspicion towards Islam has intensified. Narratives in which the West and Islam are conflicting and clashing entities have become entrenched. In Europe, anti-Muslim rhetoric has reached fever-pitch in far-right movements. What has gone largely unnoticed, however, is the Bible-use that can be found in the programmes, protests and proclamations of far-right groups and actors. The British far-right organisation Britain First fosters one example in recent years of such Bible-use. Far from accidental or negligible, I argue that contemporary far-right Bible-use may look banal and even benign, but it masks toxic and violent attitudes to Islam. This Bible-use demonstrates the way references to religion have come to replace overt references to race in the Islamophobic discourse of the far right. In a post-9/11 context, I contend, where forms of Islamophobia take extreme and mainstream form, it is crucial that biblical scholars identify the function the Bible has in stoking divisions and drawing distinctions between a Christian West and an Islamic other.

From Interpersonal Violence to Institutionalized Discrimination: Documenting and Assessing the Impact of Islamophobia on Muslim American

Muslims and people perceived as Muslims face Islamophobia, defined as an “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against Islam or people who practice Islam.” Reports of hate crimes motivated by Islamophobia have increased, as have other forms of Islamophobia, such as workplace discrimination. This qualitative study examined the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim Americans, ranging from school and workplace discrimination to policies that target Muslims, such as government surveillance. The objectives of this study were to document the spectrum of Islamophobia in the U.S. and to assess the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim Americans using components of grounded theory, qualitative data collection, and analysis. Using a semi-structured interview guide, a total of 40 participants (20 women, 20 men) were interviewed about self-reported experiences with Islamophobia and responses to bias incidents. Participants self-identified as Muslim, were at least 18 years of age, and represented various ethnic groups. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using Nvivo 12. Findings indicate that Islamophobia and xenophobia are significant sources of long-term stress. Participants discussed physical assaults in public locations, vandalism at their homes, persistent questioning regarding their country of origin, and verbal harassment in the form of derogatory terms. Islamophobia in the U.S. is multifaceted and a significant source of stress for Muslim Americans. Findings from this study and others on this topic highlight the need for interventions to support Muslim Americans.

Contemporary Experiences of Islamophobia in Today’s United Kingdom: Findings from Ten Small-scale Studies

In today’s the United Kingdom, Islamophobia is as contested as it is real. Challenging this contestation, this article presents findings from ten small-scale, qualitative studies that seek to evidence and better understand the lived, tangible experience of Islamophobia in real-world spaces. To do so, this article briefly explores the development and incidence of Islamophobia in public and political spaces and how contestation has ensued. From here, the findings draw out how Muslims experience Islamophobia in their everyday lives, ranging from instances of verbal abuse through threats and intimidation to physical assault and violence. As part of this exploration, new insights are afforded into the role and impact of terrorist attacks on hate crimes, geopolitical and military conflicts, the content of Islamophobic abuse, and the rapidly changing nature of that, which shapes and informs tangible forms of Islamophobia. In doing so, this article concludes by contextualizing the realities of Islamophobia within the far from conducive public and political spaces of the UK. This article makes a timely contribution to and improves knowledge about Islamophobia in today’s UK.

Multidimensional Social Crisis and Religion Harassment in Southeast Asia

In Southeast Asia, religion harassment in the form of Islamophobia has seen a sharp increase in recent times. This increase in religious harassment is influenced not by one factor but by many related factors. The multidimensional social crisis that occurred in the Southeast Asian region contributed greatly to the problem of religious harassment. Political, economic, and journalism crisis all have a major impact on the phenomenon of religion harassment in the form of cases of Islamophobia with varying degrees of influence. Political and economic crises are the most influencing factors on the phenomenon of harassment. Therefore, solving the problem of religious harassment in Southeast Asia must start from solving the multidimensional social crisis. Religion harassment in Southeast Asia is a psychological symptom of a particular society that meets with complex social situatio ns related to power struggles and economic domination.

Media Agoras: Islamophobia and Inter/Multimedial Dissensus. Introduction

Agora, n.: A public open space where people can assemble, esp. a marketplace, originally in the ancient Greek world; the structures enclosing such a space. Oxford English Dictionary During the last years, different forms of Islamophobia have become common and continue to infiltrate law, politics, and culture. Although the term has moved, as Khaled A. Beydoun rightly points out, from the academic discussions into the realms of social media platforms and headline news of national newspapers (18...

Sticks, Stones, and the Secular Bones of Indian Democracy

While being inspired by the compelling social protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and National Register of Citizens in India, the authors of this critical engagement argue that now, more than ever, is time to reflect on the nature of secularism that is being invoked by nonviolent protesters. What can a focus on lathi-wielding and stone-throwing, all low technologies of governance, tell us about the practices and challenges of liberal democracy in India? This piece excavates a brief history of the lathi and stone-pelting to show what kinds of "illiberal" protests are deemed aesthetically pleasing and palatable to elites in India and abroad, which ones are not, and the dangers of this kind of exclusion with respect to new forms of Islamophobia.

Unwanted Identities: The ‘Religion Line’ and Global Islamophobia

The article discusses why Islamophobia constitutes a major racist discourse today and illustrates how we can make sense of this global relevance of Islamophobia. The author explains the centrality of the ‘religion line’ in the current global world system by drawing on the post-Cold War era. Through a decolonial reading of Islamophobia, three empirical cases are chosen to discuss differences and commonalities between various forms of Islamophobia in the Xingjiang/China, Egypt, and the USA exploring the effects of this global phenomenon on the discursive construction of identities, citizenship rights, and governance.

The Mediating Role of Multiple Group Identities in the Relations between Religious Discrimination and Muslim‐American Adolescents’ Adjustment

AbstractDespite increasing anti‐Muslim sentiments, the implications of religious discrimination for Muslim‐American adolescents’ well‐being remain understudied. Drawing on the rejection identification and disidentification models, we examined the mediating role of multiple group identities (i.e., religious and national) in the cross‐sectional associations between individual‐level religious discrimination and internalizing and externalizing problems among 13‐ to 18‐year‐old (M = 16.7 years, SD = 1.6) Muslim‐American adolescents with immigrant backgrounds. Moreover, building on the attributional ambiguity perspective, we examined the moderating role of group‐level religious discrimination in the form of Islamophobia. Religious identity did not mediate the relations between individual‐level discrimination and internalizing and externalizing problems, and these relations did not depend on youths’ perceptions of Islamophobia. However, individual‐level discrimination was associated with American identity, depending on perceptions of Islamophobia. In turn, adolescents’ Muslim and American identities were linked to less internalizing and externalizing problems. Implications of our findings for the development of programs and policies are discussed.

Islamophobia and the Law: Introduction

This is an introduction to an edited volume, Islamophobia and the Law. In it we lay out a brief history of the rise of the concept of Islamophobia, a legal definition for it and describe the structure of the book. From the chapter: The volume’s broad coverage examines Islamophobia at the center and also at the margins. The organization of the book allows it to be read serially to get a comprehensive understanding of Islamophobia as it has evolved since 9/11. Alternatively, chapters can be read or assigned individually according to subject matter. In general, the volume is an opening. It is an attempt to collate the important work that has emerged as a field. It seeks to shift our attention to neglected areas of the law and also to and inspire future analysis of Islamophobia within all areas including legal spheres where Islamophobia is thought to be non-germane. It is not exhaustive. Undoubtedly, there are chapters that ought to have been included but for concerns of length could not be. While this is the first multi-author volume addressing Islamophobia and its intimate relationship with the law, we do not expect or anticipate it to be the last. Just as the War on Terror and the rise of populist hate continues to proliferate different forms of Islamophobia, scholars will continue to theorize and suggest ways to understand these phenomena well into the future.

“A Sword of Wrath, the Executor of Sinister Adventures”: Domestic Islamophobia and International Black Muslim Solidarities during the Cold War

Abstract FBI repression of “Black Muslim” groups such as the Moorish Science Temple of America and the Nation of Islam emerged from institutionalized forms of Islamophobia preceding the War on Terror. This article examines the broader Cold War policies that criminalized Black conversion to Islam as a treasonous affiliation with “un-American” forces.

De-‘Moor’ Tifying Shakespeare’s Othello: Iago as a Renaissance Form of Islamophobia

Albeit Othello’s loyal service to Venice is clear, ramifications of the Blackamoor in the text has called upon a continuous scholarship of interest over the last two decades. One begins to wonder, whether the Blackamoor’s presence in a Venetian setting serves a purpose to the English readership? If so, to what extent did Shakespeare refine the representation of a Moor to draw upon readership? How does Iago serve as a propagandist who articulates and fuels concerns for the seventeenth-century version of Islamophobia? As such, these significant questions have led to the construction of this paper, since these issues continuously problematize and make relevance of Shakespearean plays in the contemporary world. As such, this article examines the significance of Shakespeare’s inclusion, portrayal and representation of Othello as a Moor that poses an image of threat in a seventeenth-century Western context. At the same time, this paper also asserts that Iago is the mouthpiece who initiates worries over possible threats of Islamophobia. The use of Greenblatt’s New Historicism, particularly his concept of energia (1988) enables the validation of such claims by making relevance of the Battle of Lepanto (1571). Results indicated that ‘Othello’ provides an important platform to discuss contemporary renaissance issues such as Islamophobia and Englishness, through indicative clues that Iago is the mastermind that causes fear of the advancing Moors.

Affect, Animality, and Islamophobia

American internet Islamophobia is fascinated with Muslim attitudes towards animals – especially pigs. Through an examination of internet memes found on right-wing and white supremacist websites and social media groups, this essay argues that affective relations to certain animals are part of what mark the Muslim as other and worthy of hate in American Islamophobic rhetoric. More importantly, this Islamophobic pig imagery, which often mischaracterizes or willfully misrepresents Muslim dietary restrictions, reveals that Islamophobic internet memes are not primarily aimed at Muslims nor are they first and foremost an expression of fear of Islam. Instead this Islamophobic rhetoric takes the form of an inside joke, affectively linking those who are “in” on the joke, uniting them in a jovial transgression of “politically correct" norms. This form of Islamophobia might be better termed “Islamophobophilia,” since it marks some Americans as insiders and others as outsiders. It is a method for non-Muslim Americans to signal to other other non-Muslim Americans that they are the right kind of American.

Muslims at the Australian periphery

The overt expression of anti-Muslim sentiment is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia. It builds upon racism embedded in history, “clash of civilisations” ideologies and constructs of border-terrorism. Denigration of Muslims, commonly termed Islamophobia, is overtly evident in the official sphere, media reporting and increasing popular rejection of Islamic amenities such as schools and mosques. Connected but more insidious is the Islamophobia of the ‘white savior rescue’ movement, in which Muslim men and Islam are positioned as perpetrators of oppression and harm toward Muslim women, requiring non-Muslim intervention. Varied forms of Islamophobia and their impacts are discussed.

Sexual Violence as the Language of Border Control: Protecting exceptional difference

This paper addresses the focus on sexualviolence that occurs in immigrant communities in France and demonstrates how sexual violence has become a site for the management of these communities. The unprecedented focus on sexuality and sexual violence since 2001 must be seen in the larger context of debates about immigration,national security, and a growing European wide form of Islamophobia, and as such can be explained by the fact it has become the discourse of bordercontrol, the way borders are policed – it takes the place of a political languageof immigration. The paper traces two highly charged public debates that revolvearound issues of sexuality and immigration: the debate on prostitution which includes the 2003 ban on racolage passif or passive soliciting; and the 2004 ban on the headscarf. While these bans are presented in some sense as promoting the emancipation of women, I contrast them to another set of legal provisions – the bilateral accords with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia which protect personal status laws based on Shari’a in France. The treatment of sexual violence reveals not only the condition of immigrants, but the nature of the postcolonial French state, and the way it deals with difference: an analysis of sexual violence exposes contemporary French republican universalism as a practice that can only accommodate difference in an exceptional, discretionary manner – one that takes place at the expense of its avowed politics of universal equality.

The vicious circle of religious prejudice: Islamophobia makes the acculturation attitudes of majority and minority members clash

AbstractPublic discourse often portrays Islam as the main obstacle for Muslim minorities' integration, paying little attention to the contextual factors hindering this process. Here, we focus on islamophobia as one destructive factor that hinders the mutual integration between Muslim minority and Western majority members, affecting both groups. In Study 1, the more islamophobic majority members were, the more they expected Muslims to give up their heritage culture and the less they wanted them to integrate. In Study 2, only when Muslims experienced substantial religious discrimination did religious identity negatively relate to national engagement and particularly positively relate to ethnic engagement. Together, the studies suggest that religious prejudice in the form of islamophobia is a major obstacle to Muslims' integration because it increases the incongruity between majority and minority members' acculturation attitudes.

Islamophobia, the Israel Lobby and American Paranoia: Letter from America

The phenomenon of Islamophobia has now surfaced as a factor in American politics. While disturbing and damaging of people's lives and reputations, the phenomenon is not unique. It can be seen as but the latest eruption of paranoid political thinking that periodically arises in American history. In turn, seeing the fate of the nation threatened by conspiracies and anti-American elements is made easier and more destructive by high levels of ignorance and insularity among large numbers of Americans. This latest round of paranoid politics, coming now in the form of Islamophobia, was triggered by the attacks of 11 September 2001 and quickly exacerbated by American Zionist groups, both Jewish and Christian, whose dislike of Muslims also has a long history.