Islamophobia and the Intellectuals

Abstract

In a widely-read report, Islamophobia has been defined as “an outlook or world-view involving an unfounded dread or dislike of Muslims, which results in practices of exclusion and discrimination”. Yet, it has led to considerable controversy among intellectuals in Britain recently. A number of writers and journalists have openly defended Islamophobia and identified themselves with it, expressing frankly racist attitudes towards Muslims in the process. This, in turn, has led a number of other writers and intellectuals to respond and to condemn those standpoints. What is interesting is that awareness of the racism inherent in Islamophobia, in its European as well as its American forms, has spread among mainstream public opinion in addition to the intellectuals. As for the academic circles, at least one full-length book on the subject plus numerous articles have been published in recent years and a number of conferences have been held devoted to it. This paper, focusing specifically on the British context, will trace the background to Islamophobia and gives other examples from Europe and the United States..