RACIALIZED GOVERNMENTALITY: MAPPING THE PERSISTENCE OF ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE WEST

Abstract

Islamophobia has become more than a historical prejudice; it is complex and intricate mechanism of marginalisation in the 21st-century West. This paper suggests that contemporary Islamophobia is most productively approached not as ‘phobia’, or simple prejudice, but as a kind of racialized governmentality which functions (a) at the level of the state and policy (b) in rhetoric and political speech and (c) in societal practice. Rather than offering simply a historical perspective, the analysis integrates the genesis of Islamophobia with its contemporary implications. Drawing on case studies from the UK, US, Canada and Australia, this article thematically deconstructs threefold main drivers of contemporary Islamophobia: 1) state-led securitization and surveillance; 2) political assimilation of far-right discourses; and 3) gendered, digital forms of social hostility. Combining the emerging picture with post-2020 trends - including changes wrought by social media algorithms and new anti-Muslim legislation - the paper reveals a deep-rooted, technologically sophisticated Islamophobia that continues to serve as an obstinate threat to the fundamental principles of liberal democracies in the West.