'Islamophobia' reconsidered

Abstract

The article presents information on five books related to Islam. these five books are: "Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All," "A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism," by Bobby, S. Sayyid, "Building Bridges between Islam and the West," by David Browning, "Der Islam und der Westen: Anstiftung zum Dialog," edited by Kai Hafez, "Islam and the West in the Mass Media: Fragmented Images in a Globalizing World," edited by Kai Hafez, "Turkey Unveiled: Ataturk and After," by Nicole and Hugh Pope. No subject in contemporary public discussion has attracted more confused discussion than that of relations between `Islam' and the West. Whether it be the discussion of relations between Muslim states and non-Muslim countries, or that of the relations between non-Muslims and Muslims within Western countries, the tendency has on both sides been, with some exceptions, towards alarmism and simplification. The Runnymede and Wilton Park reports identify misinterpretations, above all in the West, of the Muslim world and advocate a more tolerant, informed, relation to the Muslim world. They reflect an approach derived, on the one hand, from race relations and, on the other, from inter-faith dialogue. The volume by Bobby Sayyid, a sociologist writing in a Nietzschean-Foucauldian vein, strikes a less emollient note. He seeks to provide a critical "conceptual narrative" of how the Western world has come to identify an Islamic threat.

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