Countering Islamophobia
Summary
Muslims make up just 5% of the British population yet more than half of religious hate crime is directed towards them. Confusion about the nature of Islamophobia has undermined efforts to address its effects. Research led by Professor S. Sayyid in the School has reframed Islamophobia and supported anti-racist strategies to address it.
The research suggested that Islamophobia should be understood as a specific type of racism, directed at Muslimness, thus shifting the focus of public understanding from one of belief-based religious persecution of Muslims to one of global and institutionalised racialisation. Islamophobia has become increasingly normalised in the UK and increasingly prominent in political and media discourse. It needed to be publicly redefined as racism in order to challenge it using the tools of racism reduction – both politically and in everyday life. Counter narratives to Islamophobia can help in this work of racism reduction if they are used to make more space for Muslim voices and autonomy in policy and practice.
Research in the School has been instrumental in stimulating wide public debate, redefining Islamophobia as a specific form of racism and providing tools and examples to counter it in community advocacy work, media monitoring and training. This has allowed civil society and local government to respond to the rise of Islamophobia using the established tools of racism reduction and enabling ordinary people to call out Islamophobia with greater confidence.
Impact
This public reframing of Islamophobia was achieved through a change of position by Muslim community actors, led by the Muslim Council of Britain. A further 61 Muslim organisations then joined forces to position this approach as a collective claim. Such examples evidence the research contribution to social change through take-up by civil society groups.
The scope of impact was evident from the long list of public and political actors adopting the new working definition. These included the Scottish and Welsh Governments, the Mayor of London, and national police chiefs. It was endorsed by seven national political parties, 22 local authority Councils, and 57 individual MPs or Lords. At least 55 non-governmental organisations, notably Muslim groups, signed endorsements to the definition originating from the research.
Repositioning Islamophobia as a form of racism, that targets Muslimness, also calls for the use of racism reduction strategies to address it. For example, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) now recognizes rules against hair covering as an illustration of indirect discrimination against a ’racial group’ rather than solely as a matter of ‘religious’ belief. The Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) argued that the definition ‘brings us closer to setting a consistent and coherent way to tackling Islamophobia, and helps differentiate and identify Islamophobic hate crime’.
Publications and Outputs
Law, I., Easat-Daas, A., Merali, A., Sayyid, S. (Eds.) (2019). Countering Islamophobia in Europe. London: Palgrave Macmillan
Sayyid, S. (2014). Recalling the Caliphate: Decolonisation and world order. London: Hurst & Co.
Sayyid, S. (2014). A measure of Islamophobia. Islamophobia Studies Journal, 2(1): 10-25.
Sian, K., Law, I., & Sayyid, S. (2013). Racism, governance, and public policy: beyond human rights. Routledge
Sayyid, S., & Vakil, A. (Eds.) (2011). Thinking Through Islamophobia: Global Perspectives. London: Hurst & Co.
Ali, N., & Sayyid, S. (2006). A postcolonial people: South Asians in Britain. London: Hurst & Co.