Islamophobia, Neoliberalism and the Muslim ‘Other’

Abstract

Muslim communities have been racialized as ‘Other’ for over 1,400 years.1 The manner in which the figure of the Muslim has been invoked as a threat across the centuries demonstrates the importance of recognizing the ideological context if we are to fully understand the nuances of Islamophobic ‘thinking.’ The aim of this paper is to situate the Islamophobia of today within neoliberalism as the globally dominant, hegemonic ideology of our time.2 As is discussed below, Muslim communities are today racialized as the uncivilized ‘Other,’ embodying dispositions of how not to be neoliberal. Constructing Muslim communities as such serves to legitimize the neoliberal, neo-colonial project ‘over there’ and at home in the metropole. This paper details the manner in which contemporary neoliberal civilizing missions operate from above, akin to a form of hard-power, and below, winning hearts and minds, through ‘a full-blown social program’3 to create neoliberal citizens, while penalizing those that refuse to participate.4