Geographies of Islamophobia

Abstract

Islamophobia often refers to systemic racism against Muslims and the lived experiences of discrimination against people who are perceived as Muslim. These forms of racism and discrimination have intensified in the last couple of decades, especially since the War on Terror. This introduction argues that Islamophobia is a spatialized process that occurs at different scales in Muslim-minority countries: globe, nation, urban, neighbourhood, body and emotion. First, we outline a genealogy of the term, Islamophobia. Second, we demonstrate the ways in which Islamophobia occurs at different scales and is connected between scales. Finally, we introduce the papers in the special issue to highlight our argument that Islamophobia is multi-scalar. We also show how the methodological contributions of the research within geographies of Islamophobia can impact policy-making and political organizing against Islamophobia.

Guest Editors’ Introduction to the Special Issue

“…Islamophobia is not only enacted and experienced at the interpersonal level; it is a form of systemic violence that is perpetuated by Muslim-minority nation states and a multi-million-dollar industry (Ali et al, 2011;Lean, 2017). As such, we agree with Najib and Hopkins (2020), who asserted that "that Islamophobia is a spatialized process that occurs at different scales in Muslim-minority countries: globe, nation, urban, neighbourhood, body and emotion" (p. 449).…”

“…If one is to use the term "Islamophobia," however, there is still a need to name the aspects of dislike and hatred of Muslims (Elkassem et al, 2018) in conjunction with actions such as intimidation, harassment, violence, as well as faulty assumptions and misrepresentations, often in the form of what Chimamanda Adichie ( 2009) has theorized as "single stories." This includes anti-Muslim tropes and Islamophobic narrativizations of backwardness and Orientalized Others (Najib & Hopkins, 2020;Said, 1978;Saleh, 2019). Our work and understandings are informed by Bullock's (2017) 8.…”

“…Importantly, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment and rhetoric is not a new phenomenon generated by 9/11 and continues to impact the lives of Muslim people to this day (Aslan, 2011;Mattson, 2013;Said, 1978). As the United States responded to the complex crosscurrents of terrorism responsible for the 9/11 attacks with President Bush's "War on Terror" and passing of "Patriot Act", Islam has been erroneously and recklessly conflated with terrorism (Najib & Hopkins, 2020). And, despite surveillance of racialized communities being baked into the architecture of American society (Browne, 2015), anti-Muslim prejudice and discrimination continues to surge post-9/11 in both Canada and the United States (Eid & Karim, 2011;Ghosh, 2008;Kendi, 2017;Li, 2007;Poynting & Perry, 2007).…”

“I’m Trying to Give Them My Face.” Everyday Embodied Agency of the Muslim Other in Amsterdam

“…Certain urban areas, they argue, provide the veiled women with comfort and security where it is common to see women in the veil, whereas, in some public places, they experience being out of place, looked at, anxious. Veiling, therefore, is a practice in relation to power and agency that occurs at different scales: globe, nation, urban, neighborhood, body and emotion (Najib and Teeple Hopkins 2020; Secor 2002).…”

The Urgency of (Explicitly) Teaching Against Islamophobia

“…Over the last several decades, Islamophobia scholars have contributed to more expansive conceptualizations. They have asserted, for example, that Islamophobia: is often gendered (Ahmad, 2019;Zine, 2006); intersects with anti-Black racism (Auston, 2015;Best, 2017;Mohamed, 2017;Mugabo, 2016), dis/ability (Munawar, 2019), and homophobia (Safdari, 2019); is a form of racialization (Garner & Selod, 2015;Selod, 2015) , is pervasive at individual and systemic levels (Afshar, 2013;Zine, 2012); is (re)produced by the State (Najib & Hopkins, 2020); and enacts and compounds trauma (Abu-Ras & Suarez, 2009). In education research, many have highlighted how schools are not immune to Islamophobia.…”