Crisis circumstances expose laïcité as a mask for Islamophobia

Evidence

Islamophobia—like all prejudices—actually reveals more about those holding the prejudice than it does about its objects. A demonic Islamic enemy is all the better for diverting attention from intractable economic and social problems caused by late capitalism and the socially eviscerating tendencies of neoliberalism. Islamophobia makes its claim to the ground of common sense by providing simplistic explanations and scapegoats for society’s ills. It directs the attention of those who have suffered most at the hands of an inequitable system away from national political failures toward an alien wedge portrayed as intent on mayhem and carnage. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 40 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim
• XREF: connects to: France’s laïcité secularism now targets Muslim identity almost exclusively — Arsalan Iftikhar, Fear of a Muslim Planet_ Global…, 496; Islamophobia operates as ambient background noise masking concrete injustices; Liberal containment of Islamophobia serves counterinsurgency strategy, not tolerance — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 574 (+6 more)

Related

• Islamophobia functions as scapegoating that diverts attention from capitalism’s failures. (similarity 0.87)
• Crisis-time scapegoating of religious out-groups masks political and economic causes (similarity 0.85)
• Islamophobia chiefly functions to deflect attention from domestic economic failures (similarity 0.83)
• Laïcité functions as a mask over Islamophobic state policy. (similarity 0.83)
• France’s laïcité secularism now targets Muslim identity almost exclusively (similarity 0.82)
• Islamophobia functions as a screen hiding Western geopolitical responsibility (similarity 0.81)
• The pandemic generated new Islamophobic scapegoating across countries (similarity 0.81)
• Capital instrumentalizes Islamophobia rather than being driven by it (similarity 0.81)
• French secularism and anti-Catholic school history predate and complicate anti-Muslim motivations. (similarity 0.81)
• Capital, not religious ideology, drives Islamophobia’s political deployment. (similarity 0.80)
• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice (similarity 0.80)
• French establishment shifted from denouncing to embracing the Muhammad cartoons by 2020 (similarity 0.80)
• European Islamophobia has moved from the far right into the political mainstream. (similarity 0.79)
• France’s geographic proximity to Muslim lands makes its Islamophobia more layered (similarity 0.79)
• Islamophobia operates as ambient background noise masking concrete injustices (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Capital instrumentalizes Islamophobia rather than being driven by it #corroborates (0.80)
• Islamophobia functions as scapegoating that diverts attention from capitalism’s failures. #corroborates (0.80) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 40
• Crisis-time scapegoating of religious out-groups masks political and economic causes #corroborates (0.75)
• Islamophobia operates as ambient background noise masking concrete injustices #corroborates (0.70)
• Islamophobia functions as a screen hiding Western geopolitical responsibility #corroborates (0.70) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 513
• Liberal containment of Islamophobia serves counterinsurgency strategy, not tolerance #corroborates (0.65) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 574
• Islamophobia is systemic and institutionalized, not merely individual prejudice #expands (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 641
• Islamophobia includes polite liberal variants, not only conservative conspiracy theories #expands (0.55) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 48