Is Islamophobia (Always) Racism?

Abstract

Recent scholarship increasingly defines Islamophobia as a form of racism. The possibility that Islamophobia could also manifest itself as religious or cultural bigotry is generally overlooked. This article argues that although anti-Islam bigotry is intertwined with anti-Muslim racism, the two are conceptually distinct. Making this distinction allows us to better analyze, unmask, and critically assess Islamophobia. The article conceptually explores the similarities and differences between anti-Muslim racism and anti-Islam bigotry. It finds that although anti-Islam bigotry implies a prejudicial rejection of an essentialized idea of Islam, it understands religion or culture to be an individual choice and allows for the possibility that Muslims convert or assimilate. As such, it differs from anti-Muslim racism, which implies that the Muslim identity and the negative characteristics associated with Islam are innate and unchangeable. The article argues that contemporary Islamophobic political discourse in Europe is predominantly racist, although it hides behind a cloak of anti-Islam bigotry.

Researching race, racialisation, and racism in critical terrorism studies: clarifying conceptual ambiguities

“…Most important in this respect are the boundaries with concepts that are most similar. For example, in studies investigating discrimination against Muslims, racism and Islamophobia are often used to describe or analyse similar phenomena (Lauwers 2019). In order to have useful concepts and promote cumulative analyses, it is important to distinguish which instances and attributes are relevant for each of the most-similar concepts.…”

“…The implications of viewing race as socially constructed, mentioned above, are equally applicable to this definitional attribute. Attribute B, categorisation of a group as "other", entails that people are categorised as a race on the basis of possession of certain markers, such as skin colour or religious dress, which then function as signifiers of the "otherness" of the person -as someone who is fundamentally different from "us" (Hall 1997;Lauwers 2019). Attribute C, naturalisation, refers to the process whereby characteristics considered to belong to a race are seen, framed, and/or treated as somehow always insurmountable.…”

“…This link has been examined and argued for significantly more by authors publishing in other fields and journals, such as Patterns of Prejudice and Ethnic and Racial Studies (e.g. Anidjar 2007;Balibar 2004;Essed and Goldberg 2002;Goldberg 2006;Lauwers 2019;Meer 2013;Meer and Modood 2009;Topolski 2018;Modood 1992). These authors applaud the use of the concept of race as an analytical tool.…”

The Mandatory Handshake in Danish Naturalisation Procedures: A Critical Race Studies Perspective

“…The Contested Concepts of (Cultural) Racism and Racialization What counts as 'racism', in particular in relation to 'religious groups' such as Muslims, is highly contested (Meer 2008(Meer , 2013Gotanda 2011;Klug 2012;Siebers and Dennissen 2015;Lauwers 2019). The 'biological racism' of the past, often understood as a belief in the existence of human races, seems insufficient to adequately capture the structures of present-day racism against minorities.…”

“…Others criticize the term from the opposite direction: they argue that 'cultural racism' cannot be meaningfully distinguished from 'biological racism'. Since biological races do not exist, racism has always been a social construct, and cultural and biological factors have intersected in historical manifestations of racism (Zakharov 2015;Lauwers 2019).…”