Retaining ‘Islamophobia’ over victim-centred terms is necessary because media negativity attaches to ‘Islam’ itself.

Evidence

I want to show that while these different terms have gained currency over the last 20 years, retaining the word ‘Islamophobia’ to describe ‘unfounded hostility towards Islam [and] also to the practical consequences of such hostility in unfair discrimination against Muslim individuals and communities and to the exclusion of Muslims from mainstream political and social affairs’ (Runnymede Trust 1997: 4) is necessary for two reasons. Firstly, it is necessary because analysis of media reporting on Islam and Muslims shows that ‘Islam’ and ‘Islamic’ are more likely to be negatively framed in the British press (Baker et al. 2013, Baker and McEnery 2015b) than ‘Muslims’, thus placing group association and (perceived) group membership at the core of collective stereotyping and its consequences. Secondly, with the growing propensity in the British media to blame ‘extremist Islam’ for radicalization and terrorism, and the frequent use of the phrases ‘Islamist extremism’ or ‘Islamist terrorism’ in political discourses, reverting to a victim-centred terminology (focusing on the ‘Muslim’, not ‘Islam’), risks bifurcating the counter-narrative and dislodging it from contextual factors that are themselves collectivizing and homogenizing when it comes to Islam and Muslims. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 614

Categorization

• DEFINE: Stakes out the definitional camp: the Runnymede-derived ‘Islamophobia’ term is defended against anti-Muslim racism/prejudice/discrimination substitutions on strategic media-analysis grounds.
• XREF: This is the Runnymede/racialization stance in the reader’s definitional-contest mapping, directly arguing against Bleich’s neutral concept-formation and Halliday’s critique. — connects to: Retaining the term Islamophobia centers hostility on Islam itself. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 615; Media discourse frames Islamophobia as increasing and institutional. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 630; The term ‘Islamophobia’ conflates criticism of Islam with hatred of Muslims — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 651 (+1 more)

Related

• Retaining the term Islamophobia centers hostility on Islam itself. (similarity 0.90)
• Definitions of Islamophobia double as policy interventions, not neutral analysis (similarity 0.87)
• The term ‘Islamophobia’ conflates criticism of Islam with hatred of Muslims (similarity 0.87)
• Media discourse frames Islamophobia as increasing and institutional. (similarity 0.86)
• Separating Islamophobia as ideology from racism undermines anti-racist struggle (similarity 0.86)
• Islamophobia is best understood and countered as a form of anti-Muslim racism. (similarity 0.86)
• The term Islamophobia was nearly absent from the British press during 1998–2003. (similarity 0.86)
• The Runnymede definition conflates Islamophobia’s effects with its core (similarity 0.86)
• The term Islamophobia entered policy prominence through Runnymede’s 1997 report. (similarity 0.85)
• The 1997 Runnymede definition fused hostility to Islam with discrimination against Muslims (similarity 0.85)
• The term Islamophobia demands a better-grounded, contestable definition (similarity 0.85)
• Efforts to define Islam are what define understanding of Islamophobia (similarity 0.85)
• The Runnymede Trust defines Islamophobia as a form of racism against Muslims (similarity 0.85)
• Islamophobia as a concept never reached everyday popular discourse. (similarity 0.85)
• Runnymede’s 1997 Islamophobia framework is a liberal construct defining harm as unfounded hostility (similarity 0.85)

Broader Connections

• Retaining the term Islamophobia centers hostility on Islam itself. #corroborates (0.90) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 615
• Media discourse frames Islamophobia as increasing and institutional. #qualifies (0.80) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 630
• The term ‘Islamophobia’ conflates criticism of Islam with hatred of Muslims #complicates (0.80) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 651