"Islamophobia" is a term that has been widely applied to anti-Muslim ideas and actions, especially since 9/11. The contributors to this provocative volume explore and critique the usefulness of the concept for understanding contexts ranging from the Middle Ages to the modern day. Moving beyond familiar explanations such as good Muslim/bad Muslim stereotypes or the "clash of civilizations," they describe Islamophobia's counterpart, Islamophilia, which deploys similar oppositions in the interest of fostering public acceptance of Islam. Contributors address topics such as conflicts over Islam outside and within Muslim communities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia; the cultural politics of literature, humor, and urban renewal; and religious conversion to Islam.
Author(s): Andrew Shryock
Series: Indiana Series in Middle East Studies
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 261
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 8
Introduction: Islam as an Object of Fear and Affection......Page 12
Part One Continuities and Transformations......Page 38
1 Western Hostility toward Muslims: A History of the Present......Page 40
2 The Khalil Gibran International Academy: Diasporic Confrontations with an Emerging Islamophobia......Page 64
Part Two Modern (Self) Criticism......Page 88
3 The God That Failed: The Neo-Orientalism of Today’s Muslim Commentators......Page 90
4 Gendering Islamophobia and Islamophilia: The Case of Shi ‘i Muslim Women in Lebanon......Page 105
5 Bridging Traditions: Madrasas and Their Internal Critics......Page 122
Part Three Violence and Conversion in Europe......Page 150
6 The Fantasy and Violence of Religious Imagination: Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism in France and North Africa......Page 152
7 German Converts to Islam and Their Ambivalent Relations with Immigrant Muslims......Page 183
Part Four Attraction and Repulsion in Shared Space......Page 204
8 Muslim Ethnic Comedy: Inversions of Islamophobia......Page 206
9 Competing for Muslims: New Strategies for Urban Renewal in Detroit......Page 220
List of Contributors......Page 248
Index......Page 250
