A Foucauldian Theory of American Islamophobia
With the emergence of ISIS andAmerican public furor over allowing Syrian refugees safe haven, Muslim Americans find themselves once again in the cross-hairs of a nation obsessed with searching for answers and someone to blame. I argue that the premise behind American anti-Muslim sentiment is rooted...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Arabic |
| Published: |
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2016-12-01
|
| Series: | International Journal of Islamic Thought |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.ukm.my/ijit/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/IJIT-Vol-10-Dec-2016_5_47-54.pdf |
| Summary: | With the emergence of ISIS andAmerican public furor over allowing Syrian refugees safe haven, Muslim Americans find themselves once again in the cross-hairs of a nation obsessed with searching for answers and someone to blame. I argue that the premise behind American anti-Muslim sentiment is rooted in two of Michel Foucault’s concepts -“biopower” and “pastoral power.” This article is divided in two halves. In the first, I argue that American nationalism is articulated in a unique way, particularly through “pastoral power.” In conjunction with an “imagined” American nationhood (Anderson 1983), it has created a state that is often viewed as secular, but is quite Christian ideologically and structurally. Drawing on Göle (1996), I surmise that the Western “culture of confession,” an extension of pastoral power, is incompatible with Islam – or at least is viewed as such. In the second half, I present my main argument towards a new understanding of Foucault’s (1990) biopower in the context of the sovereign and its ability to designate who is “sacred,” a la Agamben (1998). I suggest that a new evaluation of Agamben (1998) should be undertaken to account for the renewed racialization of and discrimination towards American Muslims. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2232-1314 2232-1314 |