Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire

Description

Images of Islam in Europe -- Early contact with Islam -- Al-Andalus and Muslim rule in Europe -- The crusades and the reconquista -- From polemic to indifference -- The Ottomans -- Romanticism and the enlightenment -- Colonialism and orientalism -- Napoleon and "enlightened" colonialism -- The characteristics of orientalism -- American imperialism -- The persistence of orientalist myths -- Myth one: Islam is a monolithic religion -- Myth two: Islam is a uniquely sexist religion -- Myth three: the "Muslim mind" Is incapable of reason and rationality -- Myth four: Islam is an inherently violent religion -- Myth five: Muslims are incapable of democracy and self-rule -- Political Islam and US policy -- Allies and enemies: the United States and political Islam -- Islam and modernization -- Saudi Arabia and the King of Islam -- Iran and Afghanistan: irrational mullahs and freedom fighters -- Israel's enemies -- Islamists and the post/cold war era -- The separation of mosque and state -- Orientalist myths -- The de facto separation of religion and politics -- Modernization and secularization -- The failures of Islamic revivalism -- Radical secular nationalism -- Political Islam: a historical analysis -- What is political Islam? -- The growth of political Islam -- Political Islam: mixed fortunes -- Political Islam through an anti-imperialist framework -- The foreign policy establishment and the "Islamic threat" -- The neocons -- The Israel connection -- Humanitarian imperialism -- September 11 and the Bush doctrine -- Obama and liberal imperialism -- Islamophobia and domestic politics -- Legalizing racism: -- Muslims and the attack on civil liberties -- Terrorizing Arabs and Muslims -- Surveillance, detention, and deportation -- Preemptive prosecution -- The terrorism spectacle -- Theories of radicalization -- Green scare: the making of the domestic Muslim enemy -- Manufacturing the green scare -- The "ground zero mosque" controversy -- The rise of the Islamophobic network -- Islamophobia and the new McCarthyism -- The new McCarthyites -- "Education" and media propaganda -- Mainstream and liberal enablers -- Systemic racism -- Conclusion: fighting Islamophobia.