Islamophobia is political rather than religious and must be fought politically
Evidence
In this book we have journeyed from the seventh century to the twenty-first and found that the relationship between the “East” and “West” has not been characterized by a transhistoric “clash of civilizations.” We also saw that the image of the menacing “Muslim threat” has been mobilized largely by ruling elites to serve a political agenda, whether the domination of Europe by the papacy in the eleventh century or US expansionism today. An external enemy is usually paired with an internal one against whom palpable fear and hatred are generated. It follows that Islamophobia is about politics and not religion; it is therefore in the realm of politics that Islamophobia must be fought. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 576
I argue that Islamophobia is about politics rather than religion per se; it therefore needs to be fought on that terrain. There was much hope in the Muslim American community and among sections of the left that an Obama presidency would mitigate, if not eradicate, anti-Muslim racism. Yet, as this concluding chapter shows, this hope for change did not materialize: Obama wholeheartedly adopted and codified Bush-era policies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 35
Categorization
- XREF: Directly speaks to Kumar’s central thesis, which the reader is connecting to Grosfoguel, Rana, Selod, and Iftikhar’s work on how race and empire shape Islamophobia. — connects to: Islamophobia is systemic and institutionalized, not merely individual prejudice — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 641; Perceiving Islam as monolithic and static drives most Islamophobia — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 53; Enlightenment reason politics drove attacks on Christianity as irrational — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 158 (+43 more)
- DEFINE: Kumar’s core definitional move: Islamophobia as a political construct serving imperial projects, not a religious prejudice.
- corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 576; Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 35