State anti-racism language can become a bargaining chip for co-opting minorities into security policy.

Evidence

In truth, addressing Islamophobia was not a priority for New Labour, illustrated by the fact that it rarely referred to Islamophobia throughout 13 years of government. When the government did address Islamophobia, it was always part of a wider conversation about strengthening counter-terror legislation or Muslim communities needing to do more to challenge extremism (Allen 2017). It could be argued that when Islamophobia was referred to, it was little more than a ‘bargaining chip’ in the process of co-opting Muslims into endorsing and supporting policies (Khan 2009; Kundnani 2015). — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 491

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s framework question about definition-as-political-act — here ‘Islamophobia’ discourse gets weaponized instrumentally by the state, echoing the ‘anti-Muslimism’ critique that the label serves institutional interests. — connects to: Anti-racists’ expansion of ‘hatred’ legitimizes state censorship of minorities — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 680; A charge of bigotry can shift from minority-rights claim to adjunct of state power. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 719; Civil-liberties-versus-security framing normalizes sacrificing minority rights. (+4 more)
• SEED: Angle for an essay: how governments deploy anti-racism vocabulary instrumentally to secure buy-in for security policies — the co-optation of the term.
• ADDENDUM: Supports the framing that definitional battles over Islamophobia are political acts, relevant to the reader’s contested-definitions framing.

Related

• UK governments deployed the term Islamophobia only to co-opt Muslims into security policies. (similarity 0.84)
• A charge of bigotry can shift from minority-rights claim to adjunct of state power. (similarity 0.83)
• Anti-racists’ expansion of ‘hatred’ legitimizes state censorship of minorities (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• A charge of bigotry can shift from minority-rights claim to adjunct of state power. #corroborates (0.95) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 719
• Anti-racists’ expansion of ‘hatred’ legitimizes state censorship of minorities #expands (0.90) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 680
• Civil-liberties-versus-security framing normalizes sacrificing minority rights. #expands (0.85)
• Charges of antisemitism can serve state power rather than minority rights #exemplifies (0.85) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 714
• Support for a targeted minority doubles as surveillance and control of that minority #corroborates (0.80)
• Private citizens’ discriminatory acts get reinforced by state security policies #corroborates (0.75)
• Racism is a technology that legitimizes state killing under biopower. #expands (0.75) — Achille Mbembe, Necropolitics, 39