This cross-national analysis of Islamophobia looks at these questions in an innovative, even-handed way, steering clear of politically-correct cliches and stereotypes. It cautions that Islamophobia is a serious threat to European values and norms, and mus
Following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on 11 Sept., a reporting system was implemented on potential anti-Islamic reactions in the 15 European Union (EU) Member States. This report, based on 15 country reports, presents a comparative analysis of acts of aggression and changes in attitudes towards Muslims and other minority groups across the EU in the wake of 11 Sept. Its findings show that Islamic communities and other vulnerable groups have become targets of increased hostility since 11 Sept., although attempts to allay fears sometimes led to a new interest in Islamic culture and to practical interfaith initiatives. The report's recommendations are drawn from examples of good practice in overcoming fears and tackling prejudice.
Islamophobia can be defined as the fear of or prejudiced viewpoint towards Islam, Muslims and matters pertaining to them. Whether it takes the shape of daily forms of racism and discrimination or more violent forms, Islamophobia is a violation of human rights and a threat to social cohesion. Young people are of course not immune to this. Young men and women are obviously affected when they become targets of Islamophobic attacks and abuse. But, just as importantly, they are also concerned by the general rise in discrimination and xenophobia, whether it be active or passive. At this seminar held in Budapest in June 2004, Islamophobia was discussed within the wider context of racism and discrimination in Europe, in new and old forms. The discussions also covered the troubling resurgence of Anti-Semitic attacks, Romaphobia and segregation of Roma communities and persistent forms of discrimination against visible minorities.The report of Ingrid Ramberg provides a personal account of the issues raised at the seminar as well as a very useful documentation of the presentations, workshops and debates. It also includes a series of policy recommendations aimed at preventing Islamophobia and fostering intercultural respect and coopération.
European anti-Muslim attitudes: the voice of public protest against out-of-touch elites?Are anti-Muslim attitudes becoming the spectre that is haunting Europe? Is Islamophobia as widespread and virulent as is made out? Or do some EU societies appear more prejudiced than others? To what extent are European fears about unmanaged immigration the basis for scapegoating Muslim communities? And is there an anti-elitist dimension to Europeans' protest about rapid demographic change occurring in their countries?This cross-national analysis of Islamophobia looks at these questions in an innovative, even-handed way, steering clear of politically-correct cliches and stereotypes. It cautions that Islamophobia is a serious threat to European values and norms, and must be tackled by future immigration and integration policy.
Since the late 1980s, growing migration from countries with a Muslim cultural background, and increasing Islamic fundamentalism related to terrorist attacks in Western Europe and the US, have created a new research field investigating the way states and ordinary citizens react to these new phenomena. However, whilst we already know much about how Islam finds its place in Western Europe and North America, and how states react to Muslim migration, we know surprisingly little about the attitudes of ordinary citizens towards Muslim migrants and Islam. Islamophobia has only recently started to be addressed by social scientists. With contributions by leading researchers from many countries in Western Europe and North America, this book brings a new, transatlantic perspective to this growing field and establishes an important basis for further research in the area. It addresses several essential questions about Islamophobia, including: what exactly is Islamophobia and how can we measure it? how is it related to similar social phenomena, such as xenophobia? how widespread are Islamophobic attitudes, and how can they be explained? how are Muslims different from other outgroups and what role does terrorism and 9/11 play? Islamophobia in the West will be of interest to students and scholars of sociology, religious studies, social psychology, political science, ethnology, and legal science.
The Asian Yearbook of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law aims to publish peer-reviewed scholarly articles and reviews as well as significant developments in human rights and humanitarian law. It examines international human rights and humanitarian law with a global reach, though its particular focus is on the Asian region. The focused theme of Volume 4 is India and Human Rights.
This is the first book to examine the relationship between European antisemitism and Islamophobia from the Crusades until the twenty-first century in the principal flashpoints of the two racisms. With case studies ranging from the Balkans to the UK, the contributors take the debate away from politicised polemics about whether or not Muslims are the new Jews. Much previous scholarship and public discussion has focused on comparing European ideas about Jews and Judaism in the past with contemporary attitudes towards Muslims and Islam. This volume rejects this approach. Instead, it interrogates how the dynamic relationship between antisemitism and Islamophobia has evolved over time and space. The result is the uncovering of a previously unknown story in which European ideas about Jews and Muslims were indeed connected, but were also ripped apart. Religion, empire, nation-building, and war, all played their part in the complex evolution of this relationship. As well as a study of prejudice, this book also opens up a new area of inquiry: how Muslims, Jews, and others have responded to these historically connected racisms. The volume brings together leading scholars in the emerging field of antisemitism-Islamophobia studies who work in a diverse range of disciplines: anthropology, history, sociology, critical theory, and literature. Together, they help us to understand a Europe in which Jews and Arabs were once called Semites, and today are widely thought to be on two different sides of the War on Terror.
On Forbes list of "10 Books To Help You Foster A More Diverse And Inclusive Workplace" How law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the resurgence of Islamophobia—with a call to action on how to combat it. “I remember the four words that repeatedly scrolled across my mind after the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center in New York City. ‘Please don’t be Muslims, please don’t be Muslims.’ The four words I whispered to myself on 9/11 reverberated through the mind of every Muslim American that day and every day after.… Our fear, and the collective breath or brace for the hateful backlash that ensued, symbolize the existential tightrope that defines Muslim American identity today.” The term “Islamophobia” may be fairly new, but irrational fear and hatred of Islam and Muslims is anything but. Though many speak of Islamophobia’s roots in racism, have we considered how anti-Muslim rhetoric is rooted in our legal system? Using his unique lens as a critical race theorist and law professor, Khaled A. Beydoun captures the many ways in which law, policy, and official state rhetoric have fueled the frightening resurgence of Islamophobia in the United States. Beydoun charts its long and terrible history, from the plight of enslaved African Muslims in the antebellum South and the laws prohibiting Muslim immigrants from becoming citizens to the ways the war on terror assigns blame for any terrorist act to Islam and the myriad trials Muslim Americans face in the Trump era. He passionately argues that by failing to frame Islamophobia as a system of bigotry endorsed and emboldened by law and carried out by government actors, U.S. society ignores the injury it inflicts on both Muslims and non-Muslims. Through the stories of Muslim Americans who have experienced Islamophobia across various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines, Beydoun shares how U.S. laws shatter lives, whether directly or inadvertently. And with an eye toward benefiting society as a whole, he recommends ways for Muslim Americans and their allies to build coalitions with other groups. Like no book before it, American Islamophobia offers a robust and genuine portrait of Muslim America then and now.