Both conservative and liberal anti-extremism approaches are forms of cultural racism

Evidence

Significantly, both confrontationist and accommodationist positions are racist. Arun Kundnani argues that the conservative and liberal approaches to the problem of “Islamic extremism” are steeped in cultural racism. Conservatives believe that the problem arises from Islamic culture’s failure to adapt to modernity (as discussed in Chapter 3), while liberals assert that it is not Islam but rather Islamism, seen as a totalitarian ideology like fascism or communism, that drives political violence. What is missing in both accounts are the historical conditions that drive Islamist parties and movements. Absent a historical analysis that sets out to explain human action within particular contexts, they posit that culture—whether Muslim culture (conservatives) or Islamism as totalitarian culture (liberals)—drives the actions of extremists. Both, therefore, are forms of cultural racism that dehumanize people and turn them into empty vessels driven by demonic ideologies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 429

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 429
• XREF: connects to: Racist framing of Arabs spans both hardline and liberal camps.; Liberal anti-racist rhetoric licenses and amplifies far-right conspiracy theories. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 721; Anti-Muslim racism in politics spans both parties in liberal and conservative forms — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 743 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Both conservative and liberal approaches to Islamism rest on cultural racism #corroborates (0.97)
• Conservative and liberal approaches to Islamic extremism share a cultural-racist frame #corroborates (0.95)
• Conservative and liberal Islamophobia are both forms of imperial racism. #expands (0.85)
• Framing Islamism as European-rooted ideology shields liberals from racism charges #expands (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 709