The good versus bad Muslim label tracks support for US empire rather than facts.
Evidence
In Chapters 4 and 5, I study the foreign policy establishment and its attitudes toward the “Islamic threat.” Chapter 4 discusses the shifting, zigzagging attitudes toward “good” and “bad” Muslims, Arabs, Iranians, and Afghans. These constructions are the product of imperial ethnocentric racism because the good/bad designation flows from whether one supports or opposes US policy and empire. Moreover, one can easily go from “good” to “bad.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 87
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Good Muslim, Bad Muslim’ thesis. — connects to: Good and bad Muslim designations follow support for US empire — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 87; US policy treated Islam as good or bad depending on imperial alignment — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 395; Muslims are judged good or bad by loyalty to the US, not piety. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media: Race…, 110 (+5 more)
- SEED: An essay on how ‘good Muslim’ status is contingent and revocable could trace the good-to-bad shifts of specific figures like Karzai, Morsi, or Erdogan against shifts in US policy.
Broader Connections
- Good and bad Muslim designations follow support for US empire
#corroborates(1.00) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 87 - US policy treated Islam as good or bad depending on imperial alignment
#corroborates(0.92) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 395 - Muslims are judged good or bad by loyalty to the US, not piety.
#corroborates(0.90) — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 110 - Liberal inclusion of ‘good Muslims’ requires acquiescence to American empire
#corroborates(0.90) - Good and bad Muslim labels encode imperial hierarchy and shift easily
#expands(0.85) - Media splits Muslims into good and bad based on US strategic interests
#corroborates(0.85) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 287 - US hostility to Islamism depended on whether it served US interests
#corroborates(0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 233 - Singling out Islam for sexism serves a civilizational contrast narrative rather than fact.
#expands(0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 307