Media and scholarship have framed political Islam as the dangerous cultural other of Europe

Evidence

In their meta-analysis of 345 studies on Muslim representation in the media of mainly Western countries, Ahmed and Matthes (2017) find a dominant, shared tendency of the media to negatively frame Muslims as the dangerous ‘Other’ in opposition of liberal, Western values. — Nadia Haq, ‘The National Media Just Sees Muslims…, 7 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Patterns of media coverage demonstrate that Muslims have become increasingly represented as a cultural threat to the Western liberal way of life (Ahmed and Matthes, 2017). This critical shift in the media’s scrutiny of the ‘Britishness’ of Muslims became even more pronounced after the London terrorist attacks of 7/7. Media narratives about Muslims become framed as what Morey and Yaqin (2011) describe as ‘a project of national repair and cultural retrenchment’ (p. 66). — Nadia Haq, ‘The National Media Just Sees Muslims…, 13 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

As paradoxical as it seems, Islam remains the exemplary political enemy, but it is also an enemy that “would no longer even be a political enemy but an enemy of the political.” The site of Islam-its interiority and exteriority vis-a-vis Europe and vis-a-vis the political-is therefore troubled and unsettled insofar as this site, Islam, is both political and nonpolitical. — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 287 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Muslims are increasingly framed in Western media as cultural threats rather than religious minorities — Nadia Haq, ‘The National Media Just Sees Muslims…, 13; Islam is politically constitutive yet positioned outside the political; Western media conflate Muslim culture with terrorism to flatter Western identity — Muhammad Asad Latif, The Identity of Religion Always Comes…, 12 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Western media consistently frame Muslims as a threatening cultural Other. #corroborates (0.97) — Nadia Haq, ‘The National Media Just Sees Muslims…, 7
• Muslims are increasingly framed in Western media as cultural threats rather than religious minorities #corroborates (0.93) — Nadia Haq, ‘The National Media Just Sees Muslims…, 13
• Islam resists being placed on either side of Europe’s political boundary #complicates (0.83) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 287
• Islam’s appearance severed Europe’s political being from its theological roots #complicates (0.76) — Gil Anidjar, The Jew, the Arab, 283
• Islamophobia has material and political causes beyond ignorance or xenophobia #complicates (0.75) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 706
• Islamophobic media appearances increase public fear and Muslim discrimination #complicates (0.74)