
Islamophobia/Islamophilia
Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend
Andrew Shryock(Editor)
Indiana University Press
Published on 30. June 2010
Book
Hardback
260 pages
978-0-253-35479-2 (ISBN)
Description
"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.
Reviews / Votes
"... a collection at once serious and sensible in its scope, ambitions and outcome." -Bruce B. Lawrence, Religion Dispatches "Islamophobia/Islamophilia is a spirited volume that takes aim at the confining but dominant debate on Islam, 'for or against.' Its eye-opening cases demonstrate just how much opposed sides share, and reveal surprising alignments and crossovers that happen beyond the binary. Politically astute, analytically acute, and pervasively humanistic, this is a rare contribution that brings clarity to an ideologically charged and muddied field." -Engseng Ho, Duke University "Very timely. An excellent contribution to humanistic scholarship by a number of leading scholars. The disciplinary range and nuance of the individual essays in this volume do a great job to illustrate and analyze how ahistorical, demeaning, or apologetic views of Muslims and Islam function and circulate." -Ussama Makdisi, Rice University "In all, this work is a rich and varied fare. What is welcome is the book's developed insight that Islamophilia can also be an act of wishful thinking and fantasy as much as Islamophobia. Morever, the latter can be propagated by Muslims. In all, this is a plea for a grown up engagement with Muslims who are as diverse as Christians and Jews." -The Muslim World Book Review, 31:4, 2011 "Overall, the volume is an impressive collection of serious discursive analyses that heighten our sensitivities to the forms arguments about Islam take; while always indexes of power, it is clear that the shared terms of global debates about Islamic reform do not always correspond to shared meanings." -American Ethnologist "'Islamophobia' is an often used term in debates relating to Muslim minorities in Europe and the US post 9/11. The aim of this edited volume by Andrew Shryock is... to investigate the background of the term and reach a more thorough understanding of what it could entail and how it could be used and applied." -British Journal of Middle Eastern StudiesMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Bloomington, IN
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-253-35479-2 (9780253354792)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Andrew Shryock is Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. He is author of Nationalism and the Genealogical Imagination and co-author of Arab Detroit and Citizenship and Crisis: Arab Detroit after 9/11.
Content
Acknowledgments Introduction: Islam as an Object of Fear and Affection: A Problem for Critical Analysis / Andrew Shryock Part 1. Continuities and Transformations 1. Western Hostility toward Muslims: A History of the Present / Toma Mastnak 2. The Khalil Gibran International Academy: Diasporic Confrontations with an Emerging Islamophobia / Naamah Paley Part 2. Modern (Self) Criticism 3. The God That Failed: The Neo-Orientalism of Today's Muslim Commentators / Moustafa Bayoumi 4. Gendering Islamophobia and Islamophilia: The Case of Shii Muslim Women in Lebanon / Lara Deeb 5. Bridging Traditions: Madrasas and Their Internal Critics / Muhammad Qasim Zaman Part 3. Violence and Conversion in Europe 6. The Fantasy and Violence of Religious Imagination: Islamophobia and Anti-Semitism in France and North Africa / Paul A. Silverstein 7. German Converts to Islam and Their Ambivalent Relations with Immigrant Muslims / Esra zyurek Part 4. Attraction and Repulsion in Shared Space 8. Muslim Ethnic Comedy: Inversions of Islamophobia / Mucahit Bilici 9. Competing for Muslims: New Strategies for Urban Renewal in Detroit / Sally Howell List of Contributors Index