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This first article in the 2024 World Affairs special issue examines the Narendra Modi regime in India. Often acerbic political rhetoric is attached to official policies of the regime, creating fear and hopelessness within sections of the population. In this study, five sets of political activities of the government are evaluated. First, cultural authoritarianism became apparent with complicity toward "cow vigilantism," slapping sedition charges against those showing political dissent, banning the history books of selected progressives, and stereotyping sections of the left and liberals as antinationals. Second, the demonetization policy was implemented without adequately following the economic protocols of the state. Third, the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill indicates the thwarting of democratic and federalist ideas. Fourth, the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam demonstrate the communal‐fascist worldview of the regime in profiling population groups. Finally, the sloppy handling of the COVID‐19 pandemic and the new Information Technology rules show the government's callous approach toward science and privacy. By analyzing such political activities, the article points out that majoritarian religious nationalism, coupled with authoritarianism, has been the ideological expression of the Modi regime, coexisting with both state surveillance and electoral democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the underpinnings and ramifications of anti‐Muslim attitudes in the United States? While scholars have emphasized the centrality of race and racial attitudes to American politics, examinations of hostility towards Muslim Americans with context‐specific measures are still lacking despite the increasing relevance of this population in the public imagination. Particularly after the tragic 9/11 attacks, Islamophobia emerged as a pervasive force in American social and political life, entangling race, religion, and nationality to further stigmatize and marginalize Muslims. By more systematically examining the relationship between anti‐Muslim attitudes and public support for a range of initiatives that aim to, or already have, further marginalize(d) American Muslims, the research presented herein aims to underscore the limitations of attitudinal measures that lack context specificity. Through two studies that utilize a nationally representative survey and a longitudinal study of public opinion towards Muslims, we make the case for the development and use of more nuanced measures that capture the distinct nature of hostility towards Muslims as encompassing both perceived realistic and symbolic threats. Additionally, we consider the range of social, psychological, and physical consequences that Islamophobia may exert on Muslim individuals themselves, as well as their interactions with the majority population. These have important implications for scholars studying the sociopolitical behavior of Muslims and policymakers seeking to counteract the adverse effects of Islamophobia in the United States or elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dehumanization continues to be prevalent today and predicts detrimental intergroup consequences. Thus, it is important to identify novel interventions that reduce dehumanization and explore the mechanism(s)—both established (e.g., empathy induction, intergroup contact) and relatively understudied (e.g., humor)—driving the effects. To address this issue, in Study 1 (N = 2,349), we conducted an "intervention tournament" and found that a video (i.e., "Mean Tweets") of a relatable and diverse group of young Muslims ridiculing Islamophobic comments posted on an online video of a Muslim preschool burning down effectively reduces hostility towards Muslims. Specifically, the Mean Tweets intervention significantly reduced dehumanization of Muslims and, although the effects were weaker, anti‐Muslim policy support. However, a follow‐up study conducted 1 month later revealed that these effects subsided. Next, in a preregistered study (i.e., Study 2) (N = 677), we find that our intervention reliably reduced dehumanization of Muslims, but the reduction of anti‐Muslim policy support was not replicated. While investigating our intervention's effect on anti‐Muslim policy support, we find that our intervention led participants to discount the intervention's intended message, which could have short‐circuited the intervention's effectiveness on policy support. Considering these results, we discuss the potential psychological processes (e.g., humor, message discounting, tone) underlying our dehumanization‐reducing intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the concept of conviviality: the practice and negotiation of sharing space in suburbs with diverse populations (Journal of Intercultural Studies, 2016, 37, 423). Australia has a growing Muslim population and reports of Islamophobia remain widespread. While there is some evidence, however, that forming intercultural connections can foster more positive attitudes toward religious minority groups, we know little about how Muslim and non‐Muslim communities share space in Australia. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative investigation into how conviviality is perceived in Australian suburbs with high concentrations of Muslim residents. Following qualitative, thematic analysis of 15 interviews with multicultural service providers who work with Muslims in Melbourne, Victoria, we conclude that conviviality is fostered by a sense of community between people who share similar backgrounds as well as increased opportunities to form intercultural social connections. We discuss the scholarly and policy implications of these findings, with consideration of existing arguments about the practices of sharing space in Australian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Turk is a looming figure in Martin Luther's theological imagination, emerging again and again as a rhetorical tool and historical reality in his thought and work. Yet, Luther's treatment of the Turks has received relatively little attention despite continuities in his polemical project with the Jews. In the 1540s, Luther outlined a systematic theological interrogation of Muslims' humanity and applied his own Christian theological anthropology to determine that, on the basis of belief in the Koran, Muslims do not fit the criteria to be human persons. This article examines this claim to identify ways theology and cultural bias worked in tandem to reinforce this nefarious commitment in Luther's thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, analyses of 'cultural racism' or 'neoracism' have largely been oriented towards Western countries, where the pattern of discrimination at issue remains linked to perceptions of phenotypical characteristics. In India, by contrast, there are no physical markers of difference between Muslims and other social groups. Nonetheless, Islamophobia in India should be described as a form of racism, given the history of the term and its normative implications. Within Indian Islamophobic discourses, the Muslim 'type' functions much like racial types within European antisemitism. In addition, the disadvantaged social location of Indian Muslims resembles that of African Americans in significant respects. The label matters because it also offers a diagnosis and prescribes remedies. For legal, moral and political purposes, viewing the situation of Indian Muslims through the lens of racism points to solutions different from the ones the Indian state has implemented under the aegis of secularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the conceptual distinctions between "mediated" and "immediate" Islamophobia. "Mediated" Islamophobia refers to the fact that most people who express Islamophobic sentiment do not know (m)any Muslims and know little about Islam; their knowledge about Islam and Muslims, and any Islamophobic sentiment they may have, come from the exposure to traditional and/or social media. Given the documented Islamophobic bias of many "Western" media, "mediated" Islamophobia may be on the rise. On the other hand, research has shown that what we call "immediate" Islamophobia is less of a problem: People who know Muslims personally, live close to them and are better informed about Islam, are less likely to be Islamophobic. This article uses empirical data to contribute to the discussion of immediate, face‐to‐face experiences of residents in two Muslim‐concentration areas in Melbourne, Australia, with a reference to the "contact theory." We analyze residents' perceptions of Muslims and Islam based on everyday encounters with their (Muslim) neighbors, and Muslims' perceptions and direct experiences of Islamophobia. We use data collected through a survey and follow‐up interviews to support our conceptual argument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discrimination and vilification of Muslims in the United States have historical and political roots. This study explores everyday incidents of marginalization and oppression through the framework of structural violence. Structural violence refers to the systemic inequalities embedded within societal structures that create and support these oppressive conditions. In this community‐engaged qualitative study, 10 self‐identified Muslims from the northeastern United States were interviewed to understand their lived experiences of structural violence. Using thematic analysis, seven themes were identified: Racialized and xenophobic Islamophobia; normalized violence against Muslims and fear of safety; exclusion, marginalization, and subjugation through policies; Muslims as spokespersons for Islam; Intersecting marginalized identities and oppression; challenges of navigating Muslim identities; resilience and resistance through faith, activism, and community. This study aims to understand and contextualize the experiences of Muslims within a systemic and geopolitical framework. Another critical objective is to promote a discourse to address how academics and clinicians reproduce and maintain structural violence and to instead engage in socially transformative approaches embedded in the principles of decolonizing and mutually‐liberating cross‐struggle solidarity. These must be cultivated through community‐informed intersectional collaborative strategies for dismantling oppressive structures and promoting agency, resilience, activism, and resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2014, observers of Chinese society have noted an upsurge in Islamophobic sentiment among China's ethnic majority Han. China's Muslims, in particular those who identify as Hui and Uyghur, report an increase in harassment, both online and in person. This Islamophobic backlash occurs in conjunction with retrenchments by the Chinese state on the right to practice religion. What gives rise to this increase in bigotry? This pilot study examines official discourse about Islam through an inductive analysis of the presentation of Muslims in China's state media. Using a process of constant comparative analysis, I examine the state media's portrayal of Muslims in the flagship newspaper, The People's Daily. Drawing from a sample of 70 articles published between 2014 and 2018, I argue that the party's depiction of Muslim minorities in China emphasizes ethnic rather than religious identities, while coverage of global Islam emphasizes Islam as dangerous and associated with extremism. I contend that such depictions carry the unintended consequence of arousing suspicions about China's Muslims among Han. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islam is becoming an increasingly prevalent religion in Europe due to large inflows of Muslims over the last few decades. Previous social survey research suggests that the European public is critical of immigration from Muslim countries with concerns relating to integration and security. Using the 7th round of the European Social Survey and linking it to other data sources, this paper examines whether threat hypotheses can explain anti‐Muslim sentiment in Europe. The study finds that opposition to Muslims is significantly higher than opposition to migrants in general, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe. The threat hypothesis is not supported on a country level as counties with higher "stock" of Muslim population and higher number of Islamic terrorist attacks are more welcoming towards further Muslim immigration. Furthermore, the study finds that women are more opposed to Muslim immigration than men. The wider implications of these findings and alternative explanations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the gendered nature of Hindu and Buddhist nationalism in India and Sri Lanka. Nationalist movements have become increasingly prevalent in both countries and frequently rely upon Islamophobic discourse centred around a fear of Muslim expansionism. Specifically, nationalists in each country frame their concerns through a gendered lens concerning Muslim fertility vis‐à‐vis Hindus and Buddhists, religious intermarriage of Muslim men with Hindu/Buddhist women, and the securitization of Muslim women's clothing choices. Femonationalist rhetoric has also increasingly been utilized by Hindu and Buddhist nationalists to frame Muslim women as victims of Islam's patriarchal structures and in need of saving by Hindus and Buddhists. This article draws upon original field research in India and Sri Lanka, including interviews with Hindu and Buddhist nationalist groups, their leaders, and Muslim minorities and organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of India as the world's largest democracy is often lauded, but the re‐election of the overtly Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019 has increased concerns about the threat to India's multinational democracy and the rule of law. India is not the only democracy facing challenges related to majoritarian nationalism; there has been a worldwide rise in the language of majority 'rights' in democratic systems. The importance of analysing the extent to which the rights of majorities are being increasingly institutionalized within democratic systems has therefore increased. It is vitally important to identify whether tendencies toward ethnic democracy are increasing (and the conditions under which they do so). There may well be red flags that emerge in democratic systems, heralding the potential direction of travel. This article proposes a methodology to identify degrees of ethnic democracy using a combination of formal and informal measures and illustrates it by assessing India through an examination of anti‐Muslim policies and rhetoric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, national populist politics has been translated with the emergence of two overlapping narratives of Islamophobia and anti‐EU immigration media discourses. Such discourses have been made highly visible in the increased spike in hate crimes that have been a hidden cost of the national(ist) debate about Britain leaving the European Union (Brexit). This is the context in which we can trace a remarkable shift in the state representation of the schooling of the South Asian/Muslim community and the reclassification from promoting South Asians as central to the future of a modernised multicultural Britain (1970s) to positioning Muslims as a 'suspect community' (2020). This article unpacks two cultural moments in the critical exploration of the State production of the Muslim School within a post‐Trojan Horse era. First, a national dominant image of the Muslim School operating within the State ascribed 'no‐go' ethno‐religious Muslim neighbourhoods, as a repository of regressive (extreme) Islamist religiosity; thus, reconstructing their religious belief as racialised identities, as they disconnect from British values. Second, the No Outsiders programme, with the accompanying framing of intolerant (Muslim) parents. In this case, the ensuing tension between 'homophobic Muslims' and 'British values' sets in place a homogenisation of differences. Deploying a simultaneity of categories of difference perspective, we address an underlying discursive re‐politicising of South Asian ethnic communities as religious communities, which is resulting in a perpetual negotiation of the meanings attached to being Muslim. This will enable an international application of the article beyond the specific focus on the city of Birmingham, identified in the international media as the Jihadi capital of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research in Europe and North America demonstrates that religious discrimination against Muslim people, commonly known as Islamophobia, results in many negative mental health impacts, including depression, anxiety, isolation, and feelings of exclusion (Awan & Zempi, 2015). In Canada, Muslim women face a unique form of discrimination based on their religious, racial, and gender identities (Helly, 2012; Zine, 2008). Grounded in feminist intersectional theory and practice (Hill Collins & Bilge, 2016), the present manuscript emerges from a community‐based project centered on Muslim women's experiences of discrimination and resulting adverse mental health impacts. Through a series of five focus groups (N = 55), the research team engaged with Muslim women from diverse backgrounds in order to gain a more complete understanding of mental health inequities in Canada. Thematic analyses of focus group data revealed that Muslim women participants regularly experience Islamophobic discrimination and face multiple barriers when attempting to access culturally relevant and responsive supports. Results illuminate the potential of reciprocal, community‐based research to investigate and respond to mental health disparities experienced by Muslim women in Canada. Highlights: Gendered Islamophobia is a unique form of Islamophobia that impacts Muslim women.Islamophobia directly and indirectly negatively impacts Muslim women's mental health.Intersectionality‐in‐practice enriches collaborative approaches to community‐based justice research.Microaggression Theory can assist in contextualizing experiences of subtle discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the centrality of national identity in the exclusionary discourse of the European radical right, scholars have not investigated how popular definitions of nationhood are connected to dispositions toward Muslims. Moreover, survey‐based studies tend to conflate anti‐Muslim attitudes with general anti‐immigrant sentiments. This article contributes to research on nationalism and out‐group attitudes by demonstrating that varieties of national self‐understanding are predictive of anti‐Muslim attitudes, above and beyond dispositions toward immigrants. Using latent class analysis and regression models of survey data from 41 European countries, it demonstrates that conceptions of nationhood are heterogeneous within countries and that their relationship with anti‐Muslim attitudes is contextually variable. Consistent with expectations, in most countries, anti‐Muslim attitudes are positively associated with ascriptive – and negatively associated with elective (including civic) – conceptions of nationhood. Northwestern Europe, however, is an exception to this pattern: in this region, civic nationalism is linked to greater antipathy toward Muslims. It is suggested that in this region, elective criteria of belonging have become fused with exclusionary notions of national culture that portray Muslims as incompatible with European liberal values, effectively legitimating anti‐Muslim sentiments in mainstream political culture. This may heighten the appeal of anti‐Muslim sentiments not only on the radical right, but also among mainstream segments of the Northwestern European public, with important implications for social exclusion and political behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muslim communities have frequently been the victim of vilification and discrimination in Australia and the broader Asian region. This article discusses and compares the narratives around Muslim vilification in Australia and Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that these two nations are vastly different in size, demographics and cultural history, I will argue that there are remarkable similarities in how Muslims are subject to attack in both nations. The hate speech occasioned against Muslims in Sri Lanka and Australia is shaped by almost identical narrative structures and is cultivated in similar online environments. In both cases, anti‐Muslim animus is fuelled by a fear of displacement and perceived contamination of what nativists regard as ethnically sovereign territory. I will argue that the underlying sub‐text in both cases is owed to a repulsion to the physical presence of Muslims which can be understood in terms of Mary Douglas' concept of the moral pollutant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamophobia represents one of the greatest moral dilemmas of our time. Anti‐Muslim hostility and hatred, driven by racism, has manifested itself in exclusionary, discriminatory, and violent actions toward Muslims and those perceived as Muslims. By most metrics, Islamophobia in the United States is only getting worse. This article draws on Krister Stendahl's rules of interfaith engagement as a means of offering Christians a blueprint for how to reach out and engage with their Muslim neighbors in an age of Islamophobia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines church–state relations in Europe, and analyzes their influence on anti‐immigrant attitudes. The literature explains this relationship primarily with religious demographics, or state privileges for the majority faith. Alternately, this study focuses on the status of the majority religion. It argues that, in countries with a national church, citizens are more likely to consider the institutionalization of a new religion to be occurring at the expense of the national heritage, and react negatively. To test that hypothesis, the study focuses on Muslim immigrants in Europe, and builds an index that gauges the extent to which European states institutionalize Islam. Then, employing multilevel regression analysis, it investigates how the institutionalization of Islam influences anti‐Muslim prejudice in different contexts of church–state regimes. Individual‐level data come from the latest wave of the European Values Study, and cover 31 countries. Findings indicate that, in European countries with a national church, institutionalization of Islam increases anti‐Muslim prejudice. In countries without a national church, however, institutionalization leads to tolerance. These results confirm the continuing relevance of religion on the national level in Europe, despite the decline in individual religiosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The third chapter, "Policing Muslim Public Life", illustrates how, between 2015 and 2018, anti-Muslim activists utilised global terrorist attacks by al-Qa'ida/ISIS affiliates to mobilise a larger fear of Muslim minorities as fundamentally incompatible with Western societies. Caleb Iyer Elfenbein's I Fear in Our Hearts i is a poignant and timely contribution to the growing body of literature on Islamophobia and the conditions that foster it. Elfenbein concludes with a call for non-Muslims to join Muslims in their work to restore American public life as one that aligns more closely with core American values. [Extracted from the article]

This article covers how the history of Islam and the Middle East is covered in the latest K‐12 Texas textbooks. The study examines three world histories, four world cultures and geography and six American history textbooks published by major publishers. This article demonstrates that Islamophobic attempts to present Islam as a violent religion has been successful in Texas textbooks. On the other hand, the "Islam spread by sword" narrative is contradicted by the same textbooks with a recognition of non‐Muslim communities that have lived in the Islamic world throughout Islamic history. The study aims to guide publishers and educators before the next cycle of textbook renewal is initiated in 2019–2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we examine Shakespeare's sixteenth‐century play, The Merchant of Venice. Anti‐Semitism is a key theme in this play. The well‐known central character, Shylock, is a Jewish man ridiculed and victimised because of his identity. Much literary research has been done on the anti‐Semitism of the play, and many social studies have compared anti‐Semitism and Islamophobia, but scarcely any research brings a Shakespearean play from the sixteenth century into the context of twenty‐first century Islamophobia. There are a number of similarities between the manner in which Shylock is ostracised and the current victimisation that Muslim communities are facing in Europe and more specifically the UK. With this in mind, we explore contextual and thematic elements of this play and argue that it is possible to apply the way Shylock is unfairly victimised on stage because of his identity as a Jew to the treatment of some Muslims today. In particular, the treatment he faces shares stark similarities with the types, impacts and consequences of Islamophobic hate crime today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do Western anti‐Muslim attitudes reflect Islamophobia as a general, ethnoreligious prejudice that does not distinguish between persons and ideas, values, or behavior, or are they limited to issues perceived to be in conflict with Western liberal values? In two experiments, we measured discrimination as decreased willingness to help a Muslim versus non‐Muslim to undertake an action that was either neutral or possibly in conflict with Western liberal values. As opposed to general discrimination, the participants displayed conditional, anti‐Muslim discrimination: The two targets were treated equally when the cause was neutral, but there was less willingness to help the Muslim when the cause was conflicting (protesting against the headscarf ban and against gay rights). However, participants did demonstrate subtle discrimination by showing less willingness to help the protesting Muslim compared to the protesting non‐Muslim target. Individual differences moderated these effects with multiculturalism predicting conditional outgroup prosociality, ethnocentrism predicting global outgroup discrimination, and proatheism attitudes predicting both conditional outgroup prosociality and unprejudiced rejection of value‐conflicting behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored how political beliefs and attitudes predict support for anti‐Muslim policies and extremist behavior in the United States following the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks. A large sample completed measures of authoritarianism, social dominance orientation (SDO), generalized prejudice, identification with all humanity (IWAH), perceptions of Muslim threat, and support for anti‐Muslim policies and behaviors. These measures accounted for 73% of the variance in moderate anti‐Muslim policies and 55% of the variance in extreme anti‐Muslim policies. Authoritarianism and SDO directly and indirectly predicted support for anti‐Muslim policies, with their effects partially mediated by generalized prejudice, IWAH, and perceptions of Muslims as threatening. Threat both mediated and moderated the relationship between authoritarianism and anti‐Muslim policies. A negative interaction between authoritarianism and perceptions of Muslims as threatening predicted moderate anti‐Muslim policies, but a positive interaction predicted extreme anti‐Muslim policies. A tentative explanation is offered. Perceptions of Muslim threat was consistently a powerful predictor of anti‐Muslim policies and willingness to engage in extremist behaviors targeting Muslims. Programs to combat anti‐Muslim prejudice should consider the role of threat‐related stereotypes in expressions of anti‐Muslim prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States today, Muslim identity is highly stigmatized. Much of this can be attributed to an increasing climate of Islamophobia. The current study finds that some Muslim Americans are confronted with another source of stigma: other Muslims. Using interview data with 23 Muslim Americans in and around Houston, TX, this study examines the intersection of religious out‐group and in‐group stigma in the lives of Muslim Americans. Findings suggest that stigma comes not only from non‐Muslims, but also from other Muslims. Some Muslim Americans are especially vulnerable to religious in‐group stigma. Those who are most acculturated to non‐Muslim, Western culture often face criticism from Muslim communities, be they inside or outside the United States. These Muslim Americans find that they are not perceived as fully Muslim or fully American, and therefore denied the full benefits of either status while simultaneously bearing the burden of both. This paper articulates the multiple dimensions of stigma faced by Muslims in America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: There has been growing discussion surrounding the phenomenon of Islamophobia in Western societies over the last few years. However, in‐depth empirical research of the prevalence and patterns of prejudice toward Muslims remains scarce, especially in the Canadian context. With data from the 2011 Canadian Election Study and the 2014 General Social Survey, this study measures the extent to which negative feelings toward Muslims are present among the general adult population, and the extent to which Muslim Canadians themselves say they have experienced discrimination in recent years due to their religion, ethnicity, and culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author comments on author Yasser ad-Dab'bagh's article title "Islamophobia: Prejudice, the psychological skin of the self and large-group dynamics. He discusses ad-Dab'bagh's analysis and find it interesting and useful model as it enriches some propositions about large group identity formation. However, the author asserts the limitations in applying psychoanalytic thought to the understanding of social problems particularly to the worrisome rise of Islamophobia.

The author comments on author Yasser ad-Dab'bagh's article titled "Islamophobia: Prejudice, the psychological skin of the self and large-group dynamics. He explores ad-Dab'bagh's work as original and useful contribution to both theory and technique regarding prejudice and Islamophobia. The author also recognizes the advantage of the psychoanalysis which could heal the festering wounds within individuals and address cultural malignancies.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports published within the issue which include the study on the phenomenon of Islamophobia, the collapse of Muslim identities, and the psychoanalytic inquiry of Islamophobia in India.

The literature about secularization proposes two distinct explanations of anti-Muslim sentiment in secularized societies. The first theory understands it in terms of religious competition between Muslims and the remaining minority of orthodox Protestants; the second understands it as resulting from value conflicts between Muslims and the nonreligious majority. The two theories are tested by means of a multilevel analysis of the European Values Study 2008. Our findings indicate that, although more secularized countries are on average more tolerant towards Muslims and Islam, strongest anti-Muslim attitudes are nonetheless found among the nonreligious in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public discourse often portrays Islam as the main obstacle for Muslim minorities' integration, paying little attention to the contextual factors hindering this process. Here, we focus on islamophobia as one destructive factor that hinders the mutual integration between Muslim minority and Western majority members, affecting both groups. In Study 1, the more islamophobic majority members were, the more they expected Muslims to give up their heritage culture and the less they wanted them to integrate. In Study 2, only when Muslims experienced substantial religious discrimination did religious identity negatively relate to national engagement and particularly positively relate to ethnic engagement. Together, the studies suggest that religious prejudice in the form of islamophobia is a major obstacle to Muslims' integration because it increases the incongruity between majority and minority members' acculturation attitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article comments on the article regarding Islamophobia by author Yasser Ad-Dab/bagh. He examines the author psychoanalytic insights about the issue based on his experience and the opportunity to examine both sides as a well-trained psychoanalyst. He commends Ad-Dab/bagh's ideas and artistry in presenting his analysis, however, he could have underscored that 56 percent of American Muslims believe that other religion can be a legitimate pathways to eternal salvation.

The British National Party and English Defence League forged new frontiers in British political spaces in relation to anti-Islam, anti-Muslim ideologies. Whereas the former sought to do so in formal political arenas, the latter did so as a street-level movement. With the subsequent waning of both, Britain First has emerged seemingly to fill the political void they left. In many ways, Britain First combines the strategies and actions of the parties that preceded it, at both the formal and street levels. This article considers what is known about Britain First, about its history, development and its ideology, and how this is manifested in terms of its political strategies and actions. This includes such activities as standing for European elections and also undertaking 'Christian patrols' and mosque 'invasions'. The article considers how Britain First, while having some similarities with the BNP and EDL, is more confrontational and militaristic and is informed by apocalyptic Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possible factors in prejudice toward Muslims and those perceived to be Muslims were investigated. We specifically investigated cues of foreignness that may communicate threat. Using a 2 (Complexion: dark vs. light) × 2 (Dress: Middle Eastern vs. Western) × 2 (Name: Allen vs. Mohammed) between-subjects design, we expected cues of foreignness (dress and name) to have a greater impact on perceptions of targets than phenotype (complexion). Participants reviewed portraits of young men varying in the manipulated characteristics and gave their impressions. Generally, complexion did not affect perceptions, but portraits in Middle Eastern dress were rated less positively. There was a name by dress interaction in which Allen in Western dress was rated least negatively. Implications for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust literature on ingroup versus outgroup conflict suggests that perceived discrimination may be an important factor in intergroup aggression. Yet, to date, no studies have tested the hypothesis that the perception of being the victim of anti-Muslim discrimination might be associated with support for anti-Western political violence. We undertook an analysis of two Pew Global Attitudes Surveys: (1) a 2006 data set surveying 1,627 adult Muslim residents of Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain and (2) a 2007 data surveying 1,050 adult Muslim residents of the United States. Our analyses support the conclusions that younger age and perceived discrimination are both associated with support of suicide bombing in these Muslim diaspora populations. Study 1 found that a bad experience of discrimination increased the odds of justifying suicide bombing among European Muslims by a factor of 3.4. Study 2 found that experienced discrimination was associated with justification of suicide bombing among American Muslims. If further investigations confirm that perceived discrimination is a risk factor for support for political violence, initiatives to reduce discrimination would theoretically reduce the risk of terrorism. We discuss the challenge of breaking the vicious cycle of intergroup prejudice and radicalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2001 there has been a steadily increasing awareness of discrimination against Muslims based on their religion. Despite the widespread use of the neologism Islamophobia to refer to this phenomenon, this term has been harshly criticized for confounding prejudiced views of Muslims with a legitimate critique of Muslim practices based on secular grounds. In the current research a scale was developed to differentiate Islamoprejudice (based on the influential Islamophobia definition of the British Runnymede Trust) and Secular Critique of Islam. Across two studies, Islamoprejudice was related to explicit and implicit prejudice, right-wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation whereas Secular Critique was unrelated to any forms of prejudice but negatively related to religiosity and authoritarianism. The two scales were mostly independent or only moderately related. Importantly, the new Islamoprejudice scale outperformed all other scales in predicting actual opposition versus support for a heatedly debated, newly built mosque. These results demonstrate the necessity to differentiate between Islamoprejudice and Secular Critique in future research on attitudes towards Islam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Muslims are now the second largest religious group in almost all Western countries and a large majority of Muslim citizens are children who attend schools. However teachers' attitudes regarding the education of Muslim students are largely ignored by educational researchers. In this study, we investigate the determinants of teachers' attitudes among Flemish (Belgian) teachers (N = 620). Regression analysis has revealed that female teachers, Muslim teachers, younger teachers, and teachers with a four-year college degree have significantly more positive attitudes. Most interestingly, we found that teachers working in schools that enroll a larger share of Muslim students (greater than 50 percent) have more negative attitudes toward Muslim students than other teachers. The implications of these findings for educational policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article chronicles the efforts of two Muslim American women in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to become activists in the aim of downplaying stereotypes related to Muslims and to decrease discrimination against those practicing Islam. The article discusses their leadership role in the Muslim Women Organization (MWO) and presents their comments on how faith influenced their decision to advocate for Muslims. Other topics include the rights of Muslim women, Islamophobia, and Muslim identity.

ABSTRACT This paper considers how our understanding of religious identifications may be enriched through social psychological theorizing on group identity. It reviews a range of work (for example, sociological and social psychological) concerning Islam and Muslim identities and develops the case for viewing religious identities as constructed in and through argument. It then seeks to draw out the implications of such an approach for understanding group relations. Although minority religious identifications are often assumed to undermine social cohesion, the social networks within and between groups can contribute to inter-group harmony. For example, reciprocal relationships characterized by trust and reciprocity can constitute forms of social capital that facilitate civic integration. Yet, how such social networks are used and how relationships are developed depends on group members' understandings of their collective identity. As this is contested, it follows that analyses of intergroup relations must attend to group members' identity-related arguments and the strategic concerns that lie behind them. The utility of this perspective is illustrated briefly with empirical material (arising from interviews conducted with Muslim activists) which hints at the importance of investigating social actors' own theories of social capital and how it can be developed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, there has been considerable concern about whether Muslims living in Western countries are targets of prejudice. A considerable amount of survey-based evidence suggests that Muslims are victims of discrimination. This paper tested this hypothesis. Two lost-letter experiments were conducted to test whether the difference in returned letters would be attributable to whether the addressee was Muslim or Swedish. The results show that Muslims receive far fewer letters than do Swedes. However, this discrimination only appears when the lost letters contain money; in which case, the finder gains by not posting the letter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the problems posed by the use of the term 'Islamophobia' to describe a large set of interrelated practices pertaining to Muslim populations in Europe after the Cold War. Post-Cold War understanding of Europeanness in cultural and religious terms that have transformed exclusionary and oppressive practices towards Muslims in Europe; Analysis of pertinent topics and relevant issues; Implications for race and ethnic relations in Europe.

The article focuses on the terrorist attacks by Islamophobe Anders Behring Breivik in Norway on July 22, 2011. The author discusses how Breivik believed Muslim immigration to Europe is part of a conspiracy to create a Muslim-dominated society, analyzes the impact of the documentary "Freedom, Equality and the Muslim Brothers," written by Walid al-Kubaisi, which claims there is plot to establish an Islamic caliphate in Europe by the religious organization Islamist Muslim Brothers, and explores how the Norwegian media impacts stereotypes of Muslims and Islam.

Comments on the state of race relations towards Muslims in Europe in 2005. Definition of Islamophobia; Analysis of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism; Implications for race relations and ethnology.