Islamophobia/Islamophilia Beyond the Politics of Enemy and Friend [Paperback]

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.

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 zy?rek

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 RenewalÆ