Sardar’s continuity thesis on Islamophobia does not survive historical scrutiny

Evidence

It is interesting then to revisit the theories relating to the influence and determinative power of history. For Sardar, contemporary Islamophobia is a mere ‘re-emergence’ of a historical anti-Muslim, anti-Islamic phenomenon: a continuum that stretches from before the Crusades to the present day and no doubt into the future. For him, anti-Muslim, anti-Islamic phenomena have resided deeply in the memories of Europe and its partners, historically rooted and informed, likewise Milton-edwards. Yet as shown by this brief historical exposition, this is not the case and whilst the consideration of such phenomena has been albeit brief, more detailed studies and the comparative narratives that exist highlight a significant disparity. — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 197

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to locating this text in the field: Allen rebuts the deep-history continuum reading, distancing from Sardar and Milton-Edwards. Compare with Halliday’s treatment of historical relics. — connects to: Rival authorship claims for ‘Islamophobia’ remain unresolved and contested — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 44; Today’s Islamophobia is continuous with, not unique from, historical precedent — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 888; Sardar framed Islamophobia as a transhistorical transitory descriptor akin to anti-Semitism. — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 77 (+2 more)

Related

• Today’s Islamophobia is continuous with, not unique from, historical precedent (similarity 0.92)
• History illuminates current Islamophobia but not as a fixed or reliably accurate backdrop (similarity 0.89)
• History frames current understanding rather than predetermining it (similarity 0.88)
• Sardar framed Islamophobia as a transhistorical transitory descriptor akin to anti-Semitism. (similarity 0.86)
• Eternalised historical stereotypes render Islamophobia without a discernible beginning or end (similarity 0.86)
• Theorists dispute whether Islamophobia is constant, cyclical, plural, or new (similarity 0.83)
• Islamophobia is rooted in centuries of religion-politics-warfare conflict (similarity 0.81)
• Islamophobia is a fluid neo-ideology built from reinterpreted historical material (similarity 0.81)
• Anti-Muslim racism has no unbroken historical continuity from medieval to modern forms (similarity 0.81)
• Islamophobia grows despite a glaring absence of authoritative scholarly texts (similarity 0.80)
• Many historians trace the structural distortions of Islam represented by modern Islamophobia to medieval Europe, and aversive portrayals emerged nearly as early as Islam itself. (similarity 0.79)
• Islamophobia uniquely fuses nationality, religion, culture, and militarism in ways no other religion faces (similarity 0.79)
• Anti-Muslim phenomena are endemic but latent, not constant, in European culture (similarity 0.79)
• Halliday rejects the report’s claim that history explains contemporary anti-Muslim sentiment (similarity 0.79)
• Islamophobia’s contestation stems from a failure to define or conceptualise it. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Eternalised historical stereotypes render Islamophobia without a discernible beginning or end #contradicts (0.82) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 887
• History illuminates current Islamophobia but not as a fixed or reliably accurate backdrop #qualifies (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 203