Modern anti-Muslim racism required both colonial domination and liberal societies professing equality

Evidence

Drawing on this work, I argue that two conditions were needed for the production of modern anti-Muslim racism: colonial domination and “free” liberal societies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 96

Building on these scholars, I offer that even while Muslims were viewed in hostile ways in previous centuries, two further ingredients were needed—societies based on equal rights and the political economic domination of Muslim lands in the era of capitalist imperialism—for an ideology of racial alterity and inferiority to develop. The ability to colonize Muslim lands and to deny rights to the colonized created the conditions for modern anti-Muslim racism. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 205

As various scholars have argued, it is only when societies came to accept individual freedom and equal rights that colonial conquest, slavery, and dispossession were explained in racial terms. Drawing on this work, I argue that two conditions were needed for the production of modern anti-Muslim racism: colonial domination and “free” liberal societies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 96

This homogenized Muslim race was produced, in the British case, through its experience of domination not only in relation to Arabs, Turks, and Persians/Iranians but South Asians as well. … At any rate, full-blown scientific racism that built on Enlightenment notions of race was birthed at this moment and at the high point of European colonialism. I argue that whereas Muslims occupied a liminal space in imperial Spain, the rise of capitalist imperialism and the ability of Britain to finally challenge the powerful Muslim empires with whom they earlier could only maintain cordial relations created the conditions for modern anti-Muslim racism. As various scholars have argued, it is only when societies came to accept individual freedom and equal rights that colonial conquest, slavery, and dispossession were explained in racial terms. Drawing on this work, I argue that two conditions were needed for the production of modern anti-Muslim racism: colonial domination and “free” liberal societies. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 84

Categorization

• XREF: A testable two-condition criterion relevant to whether European states with colonial histories (France, UK) versus the US generate distinct racisms. Kumar names liberal society plus colonial domination as jointly necessary — a condition European states meet without US superpower status. — connects to: Modern racism against Muslims required European military supremacy over Muslim empires — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 82; Modern racism needed both colonial domination and liberal societies; Modern anti-Muslim racism required both rights-based societies and imperial domination — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 193 (+7 more)
• QUESTION: This two-ingredient model (equal-rights societies + colonial domination) directly frames the comparative question: European states share ingredient one, so the test is whether their domestic colonial histories supplied ingredient two in a distinct enough form to alter the circuit’s shape.
• DEFINE: Specifies the minimal causal precondition for modern anti-Muslim racism usefully as two named conditions.
• corroborated: 4 independent passages support this claim — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 96; Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 205; Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 84

Broader Connections

• Modern racism needed both colonial domination and liberal societies #corroborates (0.95)
• Modern anti-Muslim racism needs both colonial domination and liberal freedom. #corroborates (0.95)
• Modern anti-Muslim racism required both rights-based societies and imperial domination #corroborates (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 193
• Full-blown anti-Muslim racism required free-society ideology plus military dominance #corroborates (0.90)
• Enlightenment race theory about Muslims required colonial dominance and liberal societies #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 105
• Capitalist imperialism plus liberal societies produced Muslims as a full race #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 117
• Full anti-Muslim racism required both Enlightenment freedom ideology and European military dominance #qualifies (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 729
• The racialization of Muslims was anchored in Enlightenment-era colonial ideologies #exemplifies (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 185