The concept of Islamophobia has gained massive popularity over the last couple of decades. The clashes between cultures with different religious and ethnic backgrounds have been relevant for centuries. However, the modern globalizing world has facilitated a more active mutual integration of the cultures and resulted in local and global conflicts between countries, societies, worldviews, and sets of values. In the contemporary world that is widely referred to as highly civilized and extremely well-developed, the conflict between the Islamic and Christian worlds is one of the most frequently discussed global issues and sources of concern.
The 21st century has just begun, and it already is known for a series of military conflicts between the representatives of the two cultures and versatile outcomes of these conflicts. The clash of the two powerful international communities destabilizes the whole world and endangers hundreds of thousands of people every day. The concept of Islamophobia derives from this confrontation between the Islamic and non-Islamic population and has its causes and outcomes.
This paper explores the aspects and features of the evidence of Islamophobia in several different countries (such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Russia, to name a few) and investigates the causes of Islamophobia in different parts of the world, its forms, and peculiarities. The paper attempts to provide an explanation of the nature of this phenomenon and establish whether or not it is a homogenous phenomenon, and if it consists of branches and types of fear mixed with hatred towards the representatives of the Islamic cultures.
Islamophobia as a Concept
The term Islamophobia has introduced not so long ago, even though the phenomenon itself has been in place for centuries. The Centre for Race and Gender of the University of California provides a detailed explanation and a definition of Islamophobia as a concept. This source refers to the Runnymede Trust Report published in 1991 that gave a start to the use of the term Islamophobia. According to the report, this term stands for the groundless hostility directed at the representatives of the Islamic cultures (University of California: Center for Race and Gender, 2015).
Gallup adds that the Runnymede Trust Report of 1997 provided more detailed information on the phenomenon of Islamophobia outlining several of its main components such as the assumptions that Islam is a fixed culture that cannot adapt to other kinds of lifestyles, that is it a religion based on violence, that its values differ from those of the West, and that is crude, primitive, and barbaric (Gallup, 2015; University of California: Center for Race and Gender, 2015).
Gallup (2015) also mentions an issue of the Runnymede Trust Report that appeared in 2004 and commented on the changes in the social environments in the West after the events of 9/11 and how they complicated the lives of Muslim people living in the UK and the USA. That way, it is difficult not to notice that the events of 9/11 in the United States became the major catalyst of the relationships between the Islamic and the Western worlds for the next several decades (or maybe even longer) and created a fruitful ground for the deterioration of the peaceful relations between the two cultures due to the mutual fear and hate.
The situation is complicated by the fact that the evidence of new conflicts and armed clashes between the Islamic and Western cultures keep occurring almost every month. As a result, the association of Muslim individuals with aggression and terrorism unleashed in 2001 has been fed by multiple situations ever since; among them, there is the war in Afghanistan and Iraq led by the United States with the participation of some European countries, the conflicts in the other Middle Eastern countries (such as Egypt, Jordan, and Syria) that contribute to the generalization and association of the Muslim world with danger and conflict, the formation of Islamic State, a massive wave of immigration in the European Union caused by the wars in Afghanistan and Syria happening right now, the terrorist attacks in Europe (especially the most recent ones in France), and the participation of the United States, Russian Federation and European Nations in the armed conflict in Syria.
Dynamics of Islamophobia
Regardless of all the numerous factors contributing to the negative development of the situation and tension between the two worlds, the majority of both are aware of Islamophobia and its impacts. According to the survey data provided by Gallup (2015), the overall attitude towards Muslim individuals across such states as the United Kingdom, Germany, the USA, France, and Italy remained consistently respectful throughout 2008 and 2010. This statistic demonstrates that under the impact of all the conflicts and their frequent framing or misrepresentation on the news, society, in general, is able to apply critical thinking to the situation in the world and stay away from unreasonable hate in most cases. However, according to the data of Khan and Ecklund (2013), at the very beginning of the 21st century when the events of 9/11 hit the world, the rates of Islamophobia grew to the extreme heights within a very short period of time.
Namely, the authors estimated that the growth of hate crime rates against Muslim people grew by 1700% (Khan & Ecklund, 2013). Gallup (2015) confirms that the dynamics of Islamophobia tend to work along the lines of political interests of the two clashing sides and be affected by their differences in religious and cultural worldviews. To be more precise, in Western societies, citizens often view Islam as clashing with the values of liberal democracy. Some of the recent pieces of evidence of Islamophobia in different countries are their refusal to construct minarets and mosques; these issues recently arose in Switzerland and Russian Federation (both of these countries have a large segment of societies represented by Muslim people) (Aluwaisheg, 2013; Gallup, 2015).
Causes of Islamophobia
Ever since medieval times, the clashes between Muslim and Christian populations erupted in the territories of Europe and the Middle East (Geisser, 2004). The Ottoman Empire powerful throughout centuries was associated with a massive threat to the Christian values and the old European world as it was known back then (Geisser, 2004). In addition to religious threats, the Muslim states and Empires clashed with the rest of Europe along the lines of the geopolitical interests (Geisser, 2004).
Khan and Ecklund (2013) emphasize that today Muslim “is a religious label and does not pertain to race, the line between racism and religious discrimination is often blurred”. In other words, even today, the representatives of all the Islamic nations and cultures that are multiple and located all around the world are generalized and stereotypes and homogenous based on their religious preference. Due to the generalization, the slightest evidence of one’s belongingness to an Islamic culture automatically makes them associated with all the negative beliefs.
The fact that Muslim individuals dwell in many Western countries and, in many cases, continue to be faithful to their cultural traditions (wearing specific clothing, for example), makes them stand out and immediately characterizes them as “others” amongst the Western population. As shown in the research by Khan and Ecklund (2013), the American individuals are inclined to show more negative attitudes in situations with Muslim individuals than in the exact same situations with individuals of unspecified ethnicity. That way, biased perception is very clear.
In contemporary society where new facilitators of Islamophobia emerge nearly every few months, it would be pointless to look too far into the past in search of the roots of the modern anti-Muslim moods. The fear of terrorist attacks supported by multiple tragic and horrifying actions linked to the Islamic groups that occurred in Europe since 9/11 has contributed to the expansion of anti-terrorist apparatus into most of the state branches, whereas initially, it was meant to be a part of the intelligence and police services only (Miller, Massoumi, Mills, & Aked 2015). Some of the countries that became the targets of terrorist attacks are Turkey, Sweden, France, Germany, Bulgaria, Greece, Russia, to name a few (WSJ News Graphics, 2015). Naturally, the rates of Islamophobia and overall alertness in relation to the representatives of the Muslim world grew there.
Outcomes of Islamophobia
Anti-terrorist practices of the modern world expose the entire Muslim population of the world to various stereotypes and judgments many of which are offensive and humiliating to people not related to any outlawed groups. Moreover, non-Muslim individuals who “look Muslim” are exposed to random searches at work, in the airports, and even document checks in the streets (Shryock, 2010). Moreover, finding employment for the citizens of European countries who happen to have Islamic names has become much more difficult (Islamophobia Today, 2014). As a result, one may notice that all over the world, Muslim individuals are exposed to a range of racist and discriminative practices and are forced to search for more social desirability making themselves heard and seen to emphasize their difference from the dangerous communities they are associated with.
For instance, after the tragic terroristic attacks in Paris, the crowds of people expressing compassion and condolences to France were headed by Muslim individuals silently demonstrating that they do not share the positions of the Islamic State and do not want to be associated with aggression. Finally, under the influence of the current massive wave of immigration of people from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, the Muslim population in European countries is going to grow by hundreds of thousands of people who are likely to be exposed to discriminative attitudes and poor treatment due to their origins.
Islamophobia throughout the World
The homogeneity of anti-terrorist practices victimizing Muslim individuals regardless of their citizenship and background can be observed in the countries of Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, Australia, and the Russian Federation. Most of these countries have a history of conflicts with the Islamic cultures and were attacked by Islamic terrorists in the past within the last 15 years. Besides, all of these countries have a diverse population with a strong Muslim representation.
Islamophobia in Australia
In her book, Alice Aslan (2009) reveals that Australia is a country with a massive Muslim presence. The Islamic population there originates not only from the Arabic countries but from Asia and Africa, yet all of these cultural groups somehow end up equated with the same collective image of a dangerous and oppressive Muslim person (Aslan, 2009). The author mentions that the common Western moods are prevalent in Australia meaning that Muslims are a minority and are subconsciously stereotyped as inferior to the Western population, and therefore, are underrepresented in such spheres as politics and higher executive positions in business (Aslan, 2009).
The perception of Muslim people by the Australians is dominated by the social stigma that became extremely popular in the West after the events of 9/11 and was mainly dictated by the American media driven by the increased fear and anxiety about the Muslim presence in their country (Aslan, 2009). Among common idea among the Australian population is that the Islamic people are unfitted for life within a Western society due to their values (Aslan, 2009).
Islamophobia in Europe
West
One of the most commonly discussed issues related to Muslim individuals in modern Europe is veiling. In particular, the leaders of the Western European countries employ prohibitions of the veils and hijabs because they cover the faces of women. This attitude is in place due to such factors as the perception of veiling as the oppression of women in Islam, and the association of covered faces and bodies with terroristic attacks. In Western Europe, the battles on hijab have been going on for decades; for instance, of the first incidents of this type dates back to 1989 (the prohibition to the students with covered faces to enter the school in France) (Taylor, 2004). In this example Islamophobia victimized children. Various practices prohibiting wearing the Islamic clothing that covers faces in public places are evident across all the countries of Western Europe.
East
The Islamic population is not as numerous in Eastern Europe as it is in the West. That is why Eastern Europeans are often associated with xenophobic moods (Goska, 2015). One of the sources of such beliefs occurred recently in a form of massive protest across such countries as Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland against the placement of Syrian and Afghan refugees on the territories of these countries. According to the claims and statements of the leaders of the Eastern European countries protesting the immigration, they share the beliefs of the Western countries about the differences in cultural and religious aspects between Muslim and Christian people that make them unsuitable for the life within each other’s societies (Goska, 2015). However, Goska points out that even though the opposition to the immigration is viewed as a proof of Islamophobia, its support across some of the Western countries is motivated mainly by the capitalist and selfish interests viewing the refugees as a source of very cheap labor.
Overall, the analysts of the European attitudes towards the Muslim immigration today fear that the rapid growth of the Islamic presence in predominantly Christian Europe will cause the increase in nationalist moods and may cause serious conflicts in the future. In fact, this might be the ultimate intention of the Islamic State – to cause social instability in Europe and weaken its states using Islamophobia as a weapon.
Islamophobia in Russia
The evidence of Islamophobia can be found outside of Europe as well. For instance, Russian leaders have been recently accused of Islamophobic moods as the mayor of Moscow Sobyanin refused to build new mosques for the rapidly increasing Muslim population in the capital that has reached several million (Aluwaisheg, 2013). At the same time, the speech of President Putin at the recent UN summit showed that the leader is convinced that new mosques are highly important in Russia as their role is to promote the true Islamic values that are peaceful and have positive morals. In fact, throughout the existence of the USSR, Russia was to interact closely with multiple Islamic cultures of Central Asia. Further, Russia was involved in the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
These interactions formed the overall opinion about Muslims there. Officially, the government of the Russian Federation is supportive of the official Islam; however, the factual growth of Muslim presence in the country accompanied by the decline in the native population is seen as a threat to the country’s integrity (Ylmaz, 2013). At the same time, to avoid clashes between the two cultural communities, Russian political leaders Medvedev and Putin attempt to maintain friendly and warm relations with the Muslim republics within the Federation and address the nationalistic and racist movements targeting non-Slavic individuals on the territory of Russia.
Islamophobia in the United States
Gottschalk and Greenberg (2008) offer the reader a simple exercise to test their own level of Islamophobia by writing down the images they associate with the words “Muslim” and “Islam”. Such exercise is likely to demonstrate that almost everyone pairs these concepts with violent pictures of suicide bombers, terrorists, and the 9/11 attacks. The authors also mention that contemporary Islamophobia is threatening to grow into the next anti-Semitism of the beginning of the 20th century. Interestingly, that the discussion and research of anti-Islamic moods everywhere in the world are driven by the events of 9/11 and is viewed practically indistinguishable from this particular attack whereas all the other numerous terroristic actions in Europe, Middle East, and Russia are not perceived as happenings of the same level of significance.
Searching for the roots of Islamophobia today one is to refer to the framing of terrorism on the news that has been extremely active ever since the beginning of 2001 and served as the main facilitator to the overall paranoia in the West in reference to the Muslim presence and its growth. In other words, the American mass media’s repetitive statement that the threat of Islamic terrorism is ever-present and the attacks can happen anywhere and at any time caused the initial and the most powerful waves of Islamophobia that spread from the USA to the rest of the Western world. The further evidence of terrorist attacks there automatically was taken as the proof of the ubiquitous nature of the danger and resulted in an even stronger Islamophobia.
Analysis
The books and articles discussing various pieces of evidence of Islamophobia found in various parts of the world reveal a consistent pattern for the analysis of the character of Islamophobia that is based on several basic beliefs.
First of all, the association of Muslim people with terrorism and particularly with the events of 9/11 demonstrates the power of framing and the strength of the American influence on such countries as Australia and the states of Western Europe. Practically, none of the other terrorist attacks are mentioned as frequently as the attack in New York that resulted in the following “war on terror” declared by George Bush and the initiation of military operations in the Middle East that eventually turned into a series of ongoing armed conflicts that involved the troops of the United States and are still in place today.
Secondly, another popular stereotype concerning the Muslim presence in the predominantly Christian countries is the perceived “cultural incompatibility” between the two worldviews. This belief is often used as the main reason to argumentative to the opposition of the Muslim presence in Europe and the United States. However, the two cultures have been living beside one another for decades or even centuries. The presence of Muslim immigrants in the United States had been going on for a long time before 9/11. The same goes for the countries of Western Europe and Russia. The fascination by the Middle Eastern romance and the perception of the Islamic culture as exotic and filled with mysteries prevalent in the 20th century and earlier was quickly replaced by the hostility and rejection in the 21st century.
Thirdly, the association of all Muslim ethnicities and cultures with a specific and narrow range of stereotypes is one more factor that contributes to Islamophobia. Regardless of the fact that Muslim cultures can be found all over the world (in Africa, Asia, and Europe), they are mainly associated with some of the Middle Eastern cultures and then generalized. That way, if one is asked to describe a typical representative of any Christian country they would have difficulty finding a suitable image, however, when the same task is given in reference to a Muslim individual, one would immediately begin to describe an Arabic person. Behavioral patterns, just like appearances of Muslim people are widely stereotyped.
Conclusion
To sum up, even though different parts of the world interact with different Islamic cultures (Russia is in relation with North Caucasus and Central Asia, Europe deals with Middle Eastern refugees, African countries have strong Islamic presence, Australia is closer to the Islamic Asia, and the United States accumulates Islamic migrants from all around the world) the general perception of Muslim people is reduced to a very narrow list of negative stereotypes that go down to terrorism, the oppression of women, and aggressive religiousness. These stereotypes are homogenous throughout the world even though the Islamic cultures and people are very diverse.
The negative judgments and prejudice are promoted by the mass media (such as Charlie Hebdo, for example) that position Muslims as inferior to Western societies. As a result, anti-Muslim racism similar to that directed against Africans that used to have especially severe forms in the USA in the past is not happening in the whole world. The previous histories and relations of various countries with their Islamic neighbors are forgotten as the modern attitudes to Islam and its representatives are dictated by the events of the late 20th and early 21st centuries and their promotion and framing through the channels of mass media.
Reference List
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