The racialization of Muslims was anchored in Enlightenment-era colonial ideologies

Evidence

In the late eighteenth century, numerous revolutions brought forth notions of human equality, secularism, anti-slavery, and democracy and ushered in a process where capitalism would shape global relations. While Spain had held sway during the era of mercantile imperialism, Britain would lead the transition to capitalist imperialism and assume dominance in the imperial arena, building a vast empire in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that spanned the globe. It is in this context that Orientalism as a body of thought tied directly to the project of colonial control was elevated. While equality was enshrined as a principle fought for in various revolutions, the now “free” colonizing nations denied democratic rights to the people they subjugated. This was the context for the racialization of Muslims. It was built on the notion that civilizations had an “essence” that marked the evolution of people across time producing races of people with fixed and immutable characteristics. Their inability to grow beyond a certain point justified colonial intervention, which, it was claimed, would lead to upliftment. Moreover, capitalism set limits on the expansion of rights. As economist Samir Amin has observed, “Enlightenment thought offer[ed] us a concept of reason that is inextricably associated with that of emancipation. Yet, the emancipation in question is defined and limited by what capitalism requires and allows.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 185

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the graveyard/empire themes in Things Fall Apart (colonial paternalism narrative) and to the Williams reading on capitalism’s limits on rights. — connects to: Economic transition to capitalist imperialism produced Muslims as a racial category — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 83; Modern anti-Muslim racism required both colonial domination and liberal societies professing equality — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 96; Colonial-era differentiation of Muslims preceded and enabled present-day racialization. — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 112 (+19 more)
• DEFINE: Explains what ‘racialization’ means in the imperial context: civilizations as fixed essences justifying colonial uplift.

Broader Connections

• Enlightenment race theory about Muslims required colonial dominance and liberal societies #expands (0.90) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 105
• Colonial-era differentiation of Muslims preceded and enabled present-day racialization. #qualifies (0.85) — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 112
• Colonialism replaced Enlightenment universalism with a racialized superiority complex toward Muslims. #corroborates (0.85)
• European colonial racial practice of differentiating Islam preceded and enabled modern Islamophobia #qualifies (0.85)
• Colonial-era science transformed Muslims into a fixed racialized type #expands (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 180
• European superiority over Muslim empires enabled racial notions of Muslim inferiority #expands (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, The New Crusades_ Islamophobia and the…, 1826
• Colonialism replaced Enlightenment universalism with ideologies of inherent racial inferiority #corroborates (0.80) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 130
• Orientalism converted Muslim identity from a religion into a race. #expands (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 161
• Capitalist imperialism plus liberal societies produced Muslims as a full race #corroborates (0.75) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 117
• Colonial liberal assimilation differed fundamentally from later racialized exclusion #qualifies (0.75) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 63