Airports function as Foucault’s panopticon for Muslim Americans

Evidence

These actions may seem insignificant, but they reveal that for Muslim Americans, airports have become what Foucault (1995) called a panopticon, a space where discipline is unpredictable and ever present. In this panopticon under the watchful eye of the state and private citizens, Muslim Americans are not free to be themselves but must constantly demonstrate they are loyal and trustworthy citizens to escape discipline. Sarah told me that when she and her husband fly, they avoid reciting any Islamic prayers because they fear it will frighten their fellow passengers. … However, for Muslim Americans, getting caught speaking Arabic or reciting anything from the Quran could be interpreted as a threat to national security. Hamza, who was on the Selectee List for a few years, told me he avoided playing a video game on his phone that involved airplanes. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 323 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Using federally funded lists in airports is one example of how the state institutionalizes and participates in the racialization of Muslim bodies through hypersurveillance because of the War on Terror. The profiling of Muslim men in airports is not random, but systemic. Even after TSA agents interrogated Muslim men and it was determined it was safe for them to board an airplane, they were still subjected to surveillance the next time they flew. The act of being stopped, searched and interrogated publicly because of one’s religious identity confirms to the public your body is suspect and should be surveilled. The examples provided previously show that the state is not targeting specific nationalities or ethnicities, but Muslims in general. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 285 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Surveillance targets Muslim Americans based on religious identity regardless of citizenship — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 104; Airports function as a panopticon where Muslims must prove loyalty to avoid discipline. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 323; Surveilled Muslim Americans internalize the state gaze through self-censure and modified dress (+15 more)

Related

• Airports function as panopticons where Muslim Americans self-police ordinary behaviors. (similarity 0.94)
• Airports allocate the privilege of unexamined travel along racialized lines (similarity 0.90)
• Airports function as a panopticon where Muslims must prove loyalty to avoid discipline. (similarity 0.90)
• Airport surveillance publicly signals to the population that Muslims are potential terrorists (similarity 0.89)
• Airport hypersurveillance forces Muslims into DuBoisian double consciousness (similarity 0.88)
• Airport profiling of Muslims is systemic and state-institutionalized rather than random (similarity 0.86)
• Muslim identity overrides American citizenship in airport profiling (similarity 0.85)
• Airport profiling collapses religious identity and racial appearance into a single target (similarity 0.83)
• Surveillance targets Muslim Americans based on religious identity regardless of citizenship (similarity 0.83)
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim travelers from airport surveillance (similarity 0.82)
• Muslims cannot speak or act freely because state and passengers monitor them. (similarity 0.82)
• Listed Muslim travelers are routinely pulled for pat-downs at airport checkpoints (similarity 0.82)
• Surveillance makes Muslim men strategically perform loyalty to manage others’ suspicions (similarity 0.82)
• Surveilled Muslim Americans internalize the state gaze through self-censure and modified dress (similarity 0.82)
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim Americans from racialized surveillance (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Airports function as panopticons where Muslim Americans self-police ordinary behaviors. #exemplifies (0.95) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 323
• Airport profiling of Muslims is systemic and state-institutionalized rather than random #expands (0.70) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 285
• Most surveilled Muslim Americans respond with self-discipline rather than resistance #expands (0.70)
• Airport surveillance publicly signals to the population that Muslims are potential terrorists #expands (0.60) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 338
• Airports allocate the privilege of unexamined travel along racialized lines #expands (0.60)
• The hijab functions as a racial marker that triggers airport surveillance #expands (0.60) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 224
• Hostile public scrutiny becomes internalized as the architecture of Muslim American identity #expands (0.60)
• Hypersurveillance itself is the mechanism that racializes Muslim Americans #expands (0.60)
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim travelers from airport surveillance #expands (0.50) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 260
• Airport hypersurveillance forces Muslims into DuBoisian double consciousness #expands (0.50) — Saher Selod, Forever Suspect_ Racialized…, 151
• The travel ban instantiated a broader structural Islamophobia tying Muslim identity to terror suspicion #expands (0.50) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 469
• Class privilege does not shield Muslim Americans from racialized surveillance #expands (0.50)
• The surveillance gaze denies Muslim Americans the psychological privileges of citizenship #expands (0.50)
• Fear of state detention and deportation corrodes Muslim Americans’ sense of citizenship #expands (0.40)