Orientalist binaries made imperial intervention in Muslim societies seem morally obligatory.

Evidence

However, it is undeniable that the aforementioned assumptions underlying institutional Orientalism made the theory useful for imperial domination and colonial conquest. The worldview proposed by the Orientalists is one in which the “West” is seen as a dynamic, complex, and ever-changing society that cannot be reduced to its key religion or any other single factor, while the “Orient” or the “world of Islam” is presented as unchanging, barbaric, misogynistic, uncivilized, and despotic. The only logical conclusion that flows from this is that it is the responsibility of the West to intervene in these static societies and bring about change. The West had acquired a superiority complex, and the rest of the world would have to submit to its dictates. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 184

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the post-9/11 logic of ‘saving Muslim women from Muslim men’ and the civilizing-mission frame in Aziz, Abu-Lughod, Razack already in vault. — connects to: American empire required a moral narrative to justify Middle East interventions; Liberal societies displace their imperial violence onto Muslims’ supposed inherent nature. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 355; Orientalist Muslim dehumanization legitimizes colonial and imperial adventures — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 44 (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Orientalist Muslim dehumanization legitimizes colonial and imperial adventures #corroborates (0.92) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 44
• US interventions in the Middle East needed moral justifications rooted in anti-Islam narratives #corroborates (0.90) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 99
• American empire required a moral narrative to justify Middle East interventions #corroborates (0.88)
• Academic Orientalist ideas preceded and justified military violence against Muslims. #corroborates (0.88) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 267
• Orientalist scholarship justified colonization by depicting Muslim men as innately abusive #corroborates (0.85)
• Public dehumanization of Muslims made their torture acceptable state practice. #corroborates (0.82) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 757
• Liberal societies displace their imperial violence onto Muslims’ supposed inherent nature. #corroborates (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 355
• Radicalization theories justify treating Muslims as an imperial scapegoat class #expands (0.72)
• Late-nineteenth-century Orientalists directly advised colonial governments on Muslim populations #expands (0.72)
• Feminist positioning becomes a justification for imperial invasion of Muslim lands. #qualifies (0.72) — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 62