Islamophobia has become the dominant prejudice in Western societies

Evidence

Islamophobia has emerged as the dominant mode of prejudice in contemporary Western societies. In North America and across the nations of Europe, concerns about “the Muslim problem” are central to political debates and policies. As part of the response to international conflicts, acts of terrorism, and state violence in the West itself, the figure of “the Muslim” has come under increased scrutiny. Muslims and Islam have emerged as the focal point of anxieties about citizenship, loyalty, and liberal values. They have been the object of heightened levels of criticism, intolerance, and abuse—their cultures homogenized and vilified and their religion depicted as backward and warlike. The same vitriol has passed into mainstream currency, finding outlets in journalism, film, and television dramas, in political statements, and in the outlaw spaces of the Internet. By 2011, UK government minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi went as far as to declare that Islamophobia seemed to have “passed the dinner-table test” of social respectability, being the only form of prejudice now indulged and approved in the so-called liberal societies of the West. — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 15

Categorization

• XREF: Warsi’s “dinner-table test” gives the reader a quotable, citable formulation for arguing in the Hamid/Naqvi paper that Islamophobia became respectable mainstream discourse. — connects to: Majorities in Western countries blamed Muslims for the cartoon conflict. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 419; Islamophobia remains more socially acceptable than other Western prejudices — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 710; Majorities in several Western countries hold negative views of Islam. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 30 (+24 more)
• DEFINE: Establishes the historical baseline (dominance of Islamophobia as prejudice mode) against which Morey’s close readings of contesting vs. reinforcing novels will be measured.
• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that a prejudice can be ‘the only form socially approved in liberal societies’ cuts against the enlightenment self-image of Western societies — worth sitting with across the whole chapter.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 15

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia is increasingly theorized as a form of racism rather than mere religious prejudice #expands (0.55)
• Islamophobia is a largely unwarranted social anxiety about Islam and Muslims #expands (0.30)