What do you think?
Rate this book
What Is Islamophobia?: Racism, Social Movements and the State
As anti-Muslim undercurrents in the United States and other western societies become increasingly entrenched, the phenomenon of Islamophobia—and the need to understand what perpetuates it—has never been greater. Critiquing mainstream, conservative, and notionally left arguments, What Is Islamophobia? offers an original and necessary alternative to the existing literature by analyzing what the editors call the “five pillars of ” the institutions and machinery of the state, the counter-jihad movement, the neoconservative movement, the transnational Zionist movement, and assorted liberal groups, including the pro-war left and the new atheist movement.
Together, the contributors demonstrate that this emergent racism is not simply a product of ideology, but is driven by a combination of social, political, and cultural factors. What Is Islamophobia? concludes with reflections on existing strategies for tackling this growing issue and considers different approaches to countering anti-Muslim prejudice.
Together, the contributors demonstrate that this emergent racism is not simply a product of ideology, but is driven by a combination of social, political, and cultural factors. What Is Islamophobia? concludes with reflections on existing strategies for tackling this growing issue and considers different approaches to countering anti-Muslim prejudice.
304 pages, Paperback
Published July 15, 2017
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 24, 2024
I very much had mixed feelings about this book. First of all I would say it's essential reading for anybody who is anti-racist and anti-war. The book is a series of chapters all written by different academics that operate within a framework which the editors call the five pillars of islamophobia echoing the concept of the five pillars of Islam.
I'll start off with what I didn't like about the book accepting that this is an important contribution within an area of imperialist politics.
First of all the quality of the writing. To be fair it varies from author to author. The writing, in places, I found almost impenetrable because of the use of academic language to the point of obscurantism. Also authors of referenced texts are included in brackets within the main text which again really interrupts the flow of reading. If you're writing a book on such an important topic then plain English and accessibility are important. I have no problem with the use of extensive vocabulary but this went well beyond that particularly in the early parts of the book.
Secondly there are elements of Islam that support autocratic regimes and the lack of human rights in the Middle East that barely get mentioned. This is an issue that needs to be properly contextualized.
Imperialism is mentioned and indeed one of the authors specialises in this area. However the significance of oil as a resource in the middle East is not mentioned. I really think that if there wasn't massive oil reserves in the middle East islamophobia would not be an issue today. It's imperialism in the middle East that has also led to the bolstering of Zionism and the "success" of the Israeli racist settler colonial project.
On the positive side there are a number of chapters that provide real insight into the way that power operates to reinforce negative messages about Arabs and Arab culture.
I found particularly helpful the mapping out of funding for the old right in the UK and the neocons in America. The chapter on The so-called pro war left and atheist movement is also instructive. How someone such as Christopher hitchens could be blinded to the folly of the Iraq invasion because of his hate of religion, especially Islam is both sad and instructive to all of us. Likewise Richard Dawkins whose scientific writings are brilliant would do well to read some politics. The way that people that are progressive in some areas end up as bed fellows to Neo-Nazis and racists is something that needs to be properly understood to be able to counter racist arguments.
The way that reactionaries and neo-nazis in power and those that have political influence are networked internationally is well laid out and the dynamics of the way islamophobia is reinforced within society, including the role of the state, is explained.
In conclusion I'd say this is an important book that deals with the how rather than the why and therefore I would have liked to have seen far more spelling out the significance of imperialism in the middle East and the reasons that islamophobia is so heavily invested in in terms of propaganda by the ruling elite.
I'll start off with what I didn't like about the book accepting that this is an important contribution within an area of imperialist politics.
First of all the quality of the writing. To be fair it varies from author to author. The writing, in places, I found almost impenetrable because of the use of academic language to the point of obscurantism. Also authors of referenced texts are included in brackets within the main text which again really interrupts the flow of reading. If you're writing a book on such an important topic then plain English and accessibility are important. I have no problem with the use of extensive vocabulary but this went well beyond that particularly in the early parts of the book.
Secondly there are elements of Islam that support autocratic regimes and the lack of human rights in the Middle East that barely get mentioned. This is an issue that needs to be properly contextualized.
Imperialism is mentioned and indeed one of the authors specialises in this area. However the significance of oil as a resource in the middle East is not mentioned. I really think that if there wasn't massive oil reserves in the middle East islamophobia would not be an issue today. It's imperialism in the middle East that has also led to the bolstering of Zionism and the "success" of the Israeli racist settler colonial project.
On the positive side there are a number of chapters that provide real insight into the way that power operates to reinforce negative messages about Arabs and Arab culture.
I found particularly helpful the mapping out of funding for the old right in the UK and the neocons in America. The chapter on The so-called pro war left and atheist movement is also instructive. How someone such as Christopher hitchens could be blinded to the folly of the Iraq invasion because of his hate of religion, especially Islam is both sad and instructive to all of us. Likewise Richard Dawkins whose scientific writings are brilliant would do well to read some politics. The way that people that are progressive in some areas end up as bed fellows to Neo-Nazis and racists is something that needs to be properly understood to be able to counter racist arguments.
The way that reactionaries and neo-nazis in power and those that have political influence are networked internationally is well laid out and the dynamics of the way islamophobia is reinforced within society, including the role of the state, is explained.
In conclusion I'd say this is an important book that deals with the how rather than the why and therefore I would have liked to have seen far more spelling out the significance of imperialism in the middle East and the reasons that islamophobia is so heavily invested in in terms of propaganda by the ruling elite.
October 12, 2017
(Conflict of interest alert: I have a chapter in this collection) This is an excellent collection of essays on Islamophobia as structural racism. The authors tackle subjects from imperialism to counter-terrorism/extremism policies to the counter-jihad movement, helping to present a view that contemporary Islamophobia cannot simply be reduced to anti-Muslim hate crimes, as has been traditionally presented. I will write a more detailed review soon, but this collection is very much recommended.
May 30, 2021
2,5 stars
This book was SO hard to read! I felt like I wasn’t smart enough to read it. A lot of chapters felt really academic, especially the first 5 chapters. I had to reread so many parts so many times that I feel like I didn’t get out of it what I should’ve gotten out of it. It was confusing to me. I should probably read another book on this subject to really get something out of it.
This book was SO hard to read! I felt like I wasn’t smart enough to read it. A lot of chapters felt really academic, especially the first 5 chapters. I had to reread so many parts so many times that I feel like I didn’t get out of it what I should’ve gotten out of it. It was confusing to me. I should probably read another book on this subject to really get something out of it.
May 30, 2026
What is Islamophobia? is a significant collection of chapters that theorise Islamophobia as structural racism . Edited by Narzanin Massoumi, Tom Mills, and David Miller, the book argues that Islamophobia is not primarily about individual prejudice or cultural misunderstanding, but the outcome of five interconnected “pillars”:
the state (especially its counter-terrorism apparatus),
neoconservatives,
the Zionist movement,
the counterjihad far-right,
sections of the liberal and left.
For me I found the strongest sections map how the War on Terror, Prevent, funding networks, think tanks, and elite movements have institutionalised anti-Muslim racism, I enjoyed my friend's chapter Asim Quershi as usual, and the urgency he brings to the issue of counter-terrorism
I also enjoyed Kumar's point about the “intermestic” approach to Islamophobia, we must, she argues integrates domestic and international/ imperial dynamics into our discussion
Discussion on ths funding of Islamophobia and Israeli settlements, the neoconservative influence, and the role of liberal/left currents in legitimising Islamophobia are particularly sharp, and the editors both in the introduction and conclusion make a compelling case that ideas “do not float freely” but are materially produced by these above mentioned interests
However, the book has a notable limitation, while it excels at exposing external structures and elite agency, it remains overwhelmingly instrumentalist and I always look for the nature of the Muslim they are trying to protect.
In this way, there is very little engagement with the lived, psycho-social, affective, or spiritual reality of being Muslim under these conditions, that said, the book offers a valuable materialist critique of the state and social movements from above, and it does a good job in analysing the machinery of Islamophobia
the state (especially its counter-terrorism apparatus),
neoconservatives,
the Zionist movement,
the counterjihad far-right,
sections of the liberal and left.
For me I found the strongest sections map how the War on Terror, Prevent, funding networks, think tanks, and elite movements have institutionalised anti-Muslim racism, I enjoyed my friend's chapter Asim Quershi as usual, and the urgency he brings to the issue of counter-terrorism
I also enjoyed Kumar's point about the “intermestic” approach to Islamophobia, we must, she argues integrates domestic and international/ imperial dynamics into our discussion
Discussion on ths funding of Islamophobia and Israeli settlements, the neoconservative influence, and the role of liberal/left currents in legitimising Islamophobia are particularly sharp, and the editors both in the introduction and conclusion make a compelling case that ideas “do not float freely” but are materially produced by these above mentioned interests
However, the book has a notable limitation, while it excels at exposing external structures and elite agency, it remains overwhelmingly instrumentalist and I always look for the nature of the Muslim they are trying to protect.
In this way, there is very little engagement with the lived, psycho-social, affective, or spiritual reality of being Muslim under these conditions, that said, the book offers a valuable materialist critique of the state and social movements from above, and it does a good job in analysing the machinery of Islamophobia
November 6, 2024
I’m not sure I’m the target audience for this one, but this is an excellent read, well researched and well intentioned. I kind of wished the essays had more oomph to them, but it’s a good primer for people who don’t believe in there being an anti-Islam bias. I do wish there had been more historical reveals to what has been enacted by governments across the world against Islam.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews