UK governments deployed the term Islamophobia only to co-opt Muslims into security policies.

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). — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 486

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s core position: definition of Islamophobia is a political act, not neutral analysis — here the term is shown weaponized as a bargaining chip in counter-extremism co-optation. — connects to: Governments select Muslim interlocutors only when they accept official assumptions. — A. Hussain, N. Meer, Framing Muslim Integration, 492; State counter-terrorism focus has fostered and furthered Islamophobia in the UK — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia: Still a Challenge for Us…, 384; Islamophobia functions as an indiscriminate umbrella term serving varied agendas — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 542 (+1 more)
• SEED: An essay angle: how the state’s invocation of Islamophobia-as-co-optation complicates any neutral social-scientific concept-formation, undercutting Bleich’s framework.

Related

• Islamophobia functions as an indiscriminate umbrella term serving varied agendas (similarity 0.85)
• Definitions of Islamophobia are political instruments tied to policy responses (similarity 0.84)
• State anti-racism language can become a bargaining chip for co-opting minorities into security policy. (similarity 0.84)
• The Islamophobia definition is a policy instrument, not merely analysis (similarity 0.84)
• Definitional choices about ‘Islamophobia’ are political acts with real consequences (similarity 0.83)
• Governments select Muslim interlocutors only when they accept official assumptions. (similarity 0.83)
• State counter-terrorism focus has fostered and furthered Islamophobia in the UK (similarity 0.83)
• Definitions of Islamophobia double as policy interventions, not neutral analysis (similarity 0.83)
• UK counter-terror funding redirected civic support away from Islamophobia work. (similarity 0.82)
• UK integration policy redefined Muslim integration as an antidote to extremism (similarity 0.81)
• Islamophobia is one of several challenges British Muslims confront. (similarity 0.81)
• Integration rhetoric predates anti-terror policy and lacks an evidence base (similarity 0.81)
• Integration policy must be decoupled from counter-terrorism aims. (similarity 0.81)
• The term Islamophobia entered policy prominence through Runnymede’s 1997 report. (similarity 0.81)
• Muslim political actors in 1990 Britain already perceived a state campaign against them. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Islamophobia functions as an indiscriminate umbrella term serving varied agendas #complicates (0.80) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 542
• State counter-terrorism focus has fostered and furthered Islamophobia in the UK #corroborates (0.78) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 384
• Definitions of Islamophobia double as policy interventions, not neutral analysis #expands (0.72) — Runnymede Trust (ed. Farah Elahi & Omar Khan), Islamophobia, 102