The clash-of-civilizations lens drives even liberals toward illiberal anti-Muslim policies

Evidence

But the very thing that is valuable about diversity – the cultural and ideological clashes that it brings about – is precisely what many fear. That fear can take two forms. On the one side there is the nativist sentiment that immigration undermines social cohesion and erodes our sense of national identity. Islam, in particular, elicits such fear. Many view Islam through the lens of the ‘clash of civilizations’, a perspective that leads politicians and commentators – not just on the right but self-proclaimed liberals too – towards deeply illiberal arguments: insisting, for instance, that Muslim immigration must be limited, or that racial profiling is necessary in the ‘war on terror’, or that it is not possible to be racist against Muslims because Muslims are not a ‘race’. — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 684

Categorization

• XREF: Directly engages Huntington’s clash of civilizations thesis, the rival framing the reader is mapping against Runnymede’s open/closed views model. — connects to: Domestic anti-Muslim campaigns needed liberal commentary to reach the mainstream — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 497; Anti-terror and immigration policies become conflated in framing Muslims as foreign enemies — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 580; Anti-Muslim sentiment spans opposing political groups, not just white conservatives (+12 more)

Related

• Islamophobia flourishes on both the nativist right and among self-proclaimed liberals (similarity 0.92)
• Anti-terror and immigration policies become conflated in framing Muslims as foreign enemies (similarity 0.88)
• Liberal Islamophobia rejects clash rhetoric yet retains imperial paternalism toward Muslims (similarity 0.86)
• Counter-jihad ideology frames Islam as a hostile alien culture invading the west (similarity 0.84)
• Liberal defenses of Muslims framed Islamophobia as intolerance, not empire-linked racism (similarity 0.84)
• Conservative and liberal approaches to Islamic extremism share a cultural-racist frame (similarity 0.84)
• Emphasizing essential cultural difference feeds the clash-of-civilizations frame (similarity 0.83)
• Culturalist framing of Islam enables respectable liberal Islamophobia (similarity 0.83)
• Islamophobia spans liberal and conservative mainstreams, not just the fringe right (similarity 0.82)
• Domestic anti-Muslim campaigns needed liberal commentary to reach the mainstream (similarity 0.82)
• As theological critiques waned, cultural difference became the new anti-Islamic frame (similarity 0.82)
• Right-wing politicians stoked a clash-of-civilizations narrative that globally increased Islamophobia. (similarity 0.82)
• The clash of civilizations narrative is a constructed frame, not a given fact (similarity 0.82)
• Anti-Muslim sentiment now spans the political spectrum from left to right (similarity 0.82)
• Clash of civilizations framing located terrorism’s cause within Islam itself (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• Domestic anti-Muslim campaigns needed liberal commentary to reach the mainstream #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 497
• Liberal Islamophobia rejects Islam-bashing while enacting policies that target Muslims #expands (0.85) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 583
• Culturalist framing of Islam enables respectable liberal Islamophobia #corroborates (0.85) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 167
• Anti-terror and immigration policies become conflated in framing Muslims as foreign enemies #expands (0.82) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 580
• Islamophobia flourishes on both the nativist right and among self-proclaimed liberals #corroborates (0.80) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 689
• Liberal pundits combined progressive values with vehement anti-Muslim views. #exemplifies (0.80)
• Liberal Islamophobia is racist and imperialist despite its gentler rhetoric #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 430
• Anti-Muslim sentiment now spans the political spectrum from left to right #corroborates (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 476
• Anti-Muslim sentiment spans opposing political groups, not just white conservatives #corroborates (0.78)
• Liberal containment of Islamophobia serves counterinsurgency strategy, not tolerance #expands (0.78) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 574
• The War on Terror was ideologically framed as a civilizational clash #qualifies (0.78)
• Liberal reading habits themselves can fabricate Muslim difference #expands (0.75)
• Anti-Muslim sentiment operates independently of local political ideology #corroborates (0.75)
• Liberal gatekeeping defines authentic Muslim identity from outside #expands (0.75) — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 667
• Anti-immigration writers frame Muslim immigration as religious warfare on Western civilization #exemplifies (0.75) — Margaret Hodson, Baby Jihad, 31