Islamophobia as a term originally means unfounded hostility toward Islam, not structural racism.
Evidence
A note is in order about the term Islamophobia in the title of the book. I retain the term not only because it was the title of the 2012 book but because it is the widely used term today to describe discrimination against Muslims. Back in 2012 I defined Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism and used the two terms interchangeably, as I have done in this second edition. However, doing so entails a risk because many people understand Islamophobia as religious intolerance or discrimination of an interpersonal nature rather than as racism rooted in institutional structures. As various scholars have argued, to reduce anti-Muslim racism to “religious animus” or a fear of Muslims as the term Islamophobia implies misses the larger picture of structural racism. The term was popularized after a 1991 report released by a UK think tank, the Runnymede Trust, which reported on “unfounded hostility towards Islam,” which had practical consequences in the form of “unfair discrimination against Muslim individuals and communities” and “the exclusion of Muslims from mainstream political and social affairs.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 77
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines Islamophobia’s 1991 Runnymede Trust origin and why the author prefers ‘anti-Muslim racism’.
- XREF: Connects to the reader’s need to separate anti-Arab racism from Islamophobia as analytic categories. — connects to: Islamophobia is defined as anti-Muslim racism, not merely fear or dislike — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 48; Islamophobia is structural racism rooted in empire, not religious intolerance — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 91; Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Islamophobia is defined as anti-Muslim racism, not merely fear or dislike
#contradicts(0.90) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 48 - Islamophobia is structural racism rooted in empire, not religious intolerance
#contradicts(0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 91 - Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice
#contradicts(0.85) - Islamophobia operates as a racial formation, not merely religious prejudice
#contradicts(0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 46 - Islamophobia denotes fear, hatred, and hostility toward Muslims and Islam.
#expands(0.75) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 31