Islamophobia/Islamophilia: Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend (Google eBook)

Andrew Shryock

Indiana University Press, Jun 30, 2010 - Social Science - 260 pages

"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.

What people are saying

User Review -

Dear Great White Rabbit preserve us from the 'White Paper Brigade".
Islamophobia simply does not exist for rational fear is not a phobia.To say Islamophobia exists is irrational.
Why?
If a cultural codex such as the Nazis Mein Kampf , Christian Bible, Muslim Quran, ... whatever cultural codex, consistently informs within the variance of derived adherents behavior, terror against Other and subjugation of woman particularly as the political power of such a construct increases then the fear of such an entity is rational on the part of Other and woman - it would be irrational to be otherwise.
Is it the case Islam does not now or never has consistently informed terror against Other and subjugation of woman to mans will particularly when it obtains political power?
Where do Muslims and apologists for them such as this author think the "few violent Muslims" come from, the back of a cereal packet?
Norman Hillson "I speak of Germany", London 1937 said "..; the NAZI ... that great unified people are looking for peace and see friendship with Britain as a basis for peace not only for themselves but for everyone else."
It is this author along with the Hillsons, the apologists for tawdry dogma who enable the cultural relativist ethical nihilist jackboot on the throat of reason until it is to late - Peace in our Neighborhood-Gad! Like the Egyptian Coptics? Like the Indonesian Christians? Like the Saudi Arabian Women? Like Pakistan polio medical personnel? Like the Thailand teachers? Like the ....
The connection between the construct of Other in Nazi Main Kampf and the Muslim Quran is not a matter of contention it is fact if you care to check - not only the foundation texts themselves but compare actual outcomes against Other on the ground.
The meaning of the Nazi and Muslim connection is not academic and simply an opportunity for clever wordsmithing. There are too many victims and there are no less each day that passes.
"Indonesia's moral police a threat to democracy" Date May 22, 2012 Michael Bachelard The Age
"But many Indonesians are worried a profound shift is happening in their culture. They are watching as a social movement of arrogant Islam grows more powerful, and moves virtually unopposed from victory to victory.
One liberal described it as the ''Talibanisation'' of Indonesia"
....
"The mainstreaming of bigotry means that minority groups are increasingly under threat of violence and exclusion. Human rights groups say attacks have increased markedly in recent years and authorities in most cases fail to aid minorities.
As they continue to enjoy impunity, the radicals simply push the boundaries further."
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/indonesias-moral-police-a-threat-to-democracy-20120521-1z17g.html#ixzz2QPWSXY6L
Richard Dawkins is pointing out the obvious-When a cultural construct of Other(Quran)=another cultural construct of Other(Mein Kampf) be it religious or secular given time and space to flourish you can expect the same outcomes.
The question you ask 'Are the outcomes different'? Is there in any Muslim community in space and time a propensity to visit terror on Other - blow them to bits, and destroy Others churches, hunt down those who dare to question the 'Greatness' of the Prophet be it Mohammad or Hitler or..
What Dawkins is saying is based on empirical observation and rational justified understanding of psychological cause and effect at the individual and group level.
Cultural construct of Other(Quran)=another cultural construct of Other(Mein Kampf)
Cultural Foundation Text=Ethics=Ideas=Motivation=Action For and Against Other. Psychology 101.
Therefore " lumping all Muslims into one box"=" lumping all Nazis into one box".
Those who argue Islam consistently informs terror and subjugation of women are told they "conflate the actions of a few violent Muslims".
Logic determines 

Review: Islamophobia/Islamophilia: Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend

User Review  - Valena Arguello - Goodreads

This was a great book that outlines many of the main controversy we are facing and our reactions in regard to Islam and Muslims...

Contents

• Islam as an Object of Fear and Affection: 1
• Part One Continuities and Transformations: 27
• A History of the Present: 29
• Diasporic Confrontations with an Emerging Islamophobia: 53
• Part Two Modern Self Criticism: 77
• The NeoOrientalism of Todays Muslim Commentators: 79
• The Case of Shi i Muslim Women in Lebanon: 94
• Madrasas and Their Internal Critics: 111
• Part Three Violence and Conversion in Europe: 139
• Islamophobia and AntiSemitism in France and North Africa: 141
• 7 German Converts to Islam and Their Ambivalent Relations with Immigrant Muslims: 172
• Part Four Attraction and Repulsion in Shared Space: 193
• Inversions of Islamophobia: 195
• New Strategies for Urban Renewal in Detroit: 209
• List of Contributors: 237
• Index: 239

About the author

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.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Islamophobia/Islamophilia: Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend; Indiana Series in Middle East Studies
• Editor: Andrew Shryock
• Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2010
• ISBN: 0253004543, 9780253004543
• Length: 260 pages
• Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General; Social Science / Ethnic Studies / General