Islamophobia and radicalisation: a vicious cycle

In: Oxford scholarship online

Abstract

Since the 1970s, there have been three challenges to traditional, homogeneous 'national' identities across the Western world: political & socioeconomic inequality; neoliberal globalization; & more diverse, multicultural societies. As in the US & elsewhere in Western Europe, the decline of an old, masculinized national identity has now begun to open a new, dark era for Britain. Ever since the 'war on terror' was added to the mix, 'others' in Britain have been brutally demonized. Muslims, routinely presented as the source of society's ills, are subjected to both symbolic & actual violence. Deep-seated racialized norms amplify the isolation & alienation impeding Muslim integration. Both these 'left-behind' Muslims & white-British groups who perceive themselves as the true nation are under pressure from ongoing geopolitical concerns in the Muslim world, as well as widening divisions at home.