The 2001 census religion question laid groundwork for targeting policies at Muslims

Evidence

Additionally, it played a decisive role in persuading Tony Blair to go against ministerial and civil service advice and include a religion question in the 2001 Census (Sherif 2011). This meant that the ground was laid for the possible later introduction of policies targeting Muslims to match those targeting groups defined by race or ethnicity – or gender. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 445

Categorization

• SHARE: A narrow, concrete institutional-contribution fact: MCB lobbying won a religion census question, which made Muslims administratively legible as a group for targeted policy.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in how Islamophobia operates as institutional categorization — the administrative construction of a ‘Muslim’ policy category parallels the definitional stakes of the field. — connects to: Lack of religious census categories hid Muslims within ethnic and birth-country data — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 186

Related

• Muslim organizations won religion’s inclusion in the UK census. (similarity 0.82)
• Lack of religious census categories hid Muslims within ethnic and birth-country data (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Lack of religious census categories hid Muslims within ethnic and birth-country data #expands (0.85) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 186