What Is Islamophobia? - Racism, Social Movements and the State

As racist undercurrents in many western societies become manifestly entrenched, the prevalence of Islamophobia - and the need to understand what perpetuates it - has never been greater.

Critiquing the arguments found in notionally left accounts and addressing the limitations of existing responses, What is Islamophobia? demonstrates that Islamophobia is not simply a product of abstract, or discursive, ideological processes, but of concrete social, political and cultural actions undertaken in the pursuit of certain interests.

The book centres on what the editors refer to as the 'five pillars of Islamophobia': the institutions and machinery of the state; the far right, incorporating the counterjihad movement; the neoconservative movement; the transnational Zionist movement; and assorted liberal groupings including the pro-war left, and the new atheist movement. The book concludes with reflections on existing strategies for tackling Islamophobia, considering what their distinctive approaches mean for fighting back.

About the author

Narzanin Massoumi is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow (2016-19) at the University of Bath. She is the author of Muslim Women, Social Movements and the 'War on Terror' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016) and the co-editor of What is Islamophobia? (Pluto, 2017).

Tom Mills is Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University. He is the author of The BBC: The Myth of a Public Service (Verso, 2016) and the co-editor of What is Islamophobia? (Pluto, 2017).
David Miller is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. He is the co-editor of What is Islamophobia? (Pluto, 2017) and the author of Thinker, Faker, Spinner, Spy (Pluto, 2007) and A Century of Spin (Pluto, 2007).

Summary

Reveals the endemic nature of Islamophobia in the West across various sections of society, both left and right

Product details

• Authors: Narzanin Mills Massoumi
• Assisted by: Narzanin Massoumi (Editor), Massoumi Narzanin (Editor), David Miller (Editor), Tom Mills (Editor), Mills Tom (Editor)
• Publisher: Pluto
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 05.06.2017
• EAN: 9780745399584
• ISBN: 978-0-7453-9958-4
• No. of pages: 304
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); Political Ideologies, LAW / Criminal Law / General, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Minority Studies, POLITICAL SCIENCE / International Relations / General, Social interaction, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Islamic Studies, International Relations, Political activism, Islamic Studies, Social and ethical issues, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination, Political ideologies and movements, Relating to Islamic / Muslim people and groups, Social groups: religious groups and communities, Political activism / Political engagement, Global North / Industrialized or developed countries, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Cultural & Ethnic Studies / General