Islamophobia became a recognized and mobilizing issue only after the Satanic Verses affair.

Evidence

Reflecting on Muslim communities and civic society at the time of the report’s publication, there was little recognition of Islamophobia among them. Consequently, few groups and organizations had the expertise necessary to adequately respond to the challenge of addressing Islamophobia, not least through campaigning and lobbying at the national political level. Lewis (1994) rightly suggests that by the late 1980s, much of Muslim civic society was typically concerned with religious and theological matters, or, alternatively, that civic society organizations were established to provide some form of welfare. Hamid (2013) similarly acknowledges how in the 1980s various Islamic youth movements began to emerge in response to specific theological and religious concerns. … It was only after the ‘Satanic Verses affair’ that things began to change, catalysing Muslims to organize and campaign on shared issues at the national level on the basis of Muslims being a distinct sociopolitical constituency. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 477

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the field-debate arc the reader is mapping: the recognition of Islamophobia as a mobilizing category is itself a historical construction, relevant vs. Bleich’s demand for a neutral ahistorical definition. — connects to: The Satanic Verses affair catalyzed national Muslim political organizing in Britain. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 483; The Satanic Verses affair forged Muslims into an organized political identity category.; The Satanic Verses affair erased the spatial distance between Islam and the West. — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 227

Related

• The Satanic Verses affair erased the spatial distance between Islam and the West. (similarity 0.88)
• The Satanic Verses affair catalyzed national Muslim political organizing in Britain. (similarity 0.85)
• The Satanic Verses affair catalyzed a Muslim political identity category in Britain (similarity 0.83)
• Muslim communities respond to Islamophobia both by radicalizing and by campaigning positively (similarity 0.81)
• Islamophobia has moved from academic usage into mainstream national discourse. (similarity 0.80)
• The Satanic Verses affair forged Muslims into an organized political identity category. (similarity 0.79)
• Islamophobia is an ideological construct with real consequences, not mere discourse (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• The Satanic Verses affair forged Muslims into an organized political identity category. #corroborates (0.90)
• The Satanic Verses affair erased the spatial distance between Islam and the West. #expands (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 227