New Perspectives on Islamophobia ― Crises & Controversies in Contemporary Europe

In many European states, multiculturalism has recently come under attack, being openly questioned by many in both the public and political spaces as being in ’crisis’. Prompting many of these attacks have been incidents or events - typically interpreted as ’controversies’ - that have involved or centred on issues relating to Muslims or Islam. Having ramifications in the social, cultural or political spaces, many have seen these controversies as accentuating the ’problem’ of Muslims and Islam. Focusing on a number of these ’crises’ and ’controversies’, this book seeks to interrogate the theories of Islamophobia through the lens of a series of different ’crises and controversies’ that have involved - or have been perceived as involving - Muslims or Islam. This book critically engages these ’crises and controversies’ through the framework of the definitions, theories and concepts explored in the author’s earlier book Islamophobia (Ashgate, 2010). Allen’s latest book sets out to: better understand where, how and why the responses of both the right, left and centre of the European political spectrum are seemingly converging in views and attitudes towards Muslims and Islam; contribute additional knowledge to the still relatively under-researched yet extremely timely phenomenon of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred; and consider how this links to and affects attitudes and expressions manifested in the public and social spaces. Employing a largely thematic approach, this book focuses on the linked impacts of a range of different controversies that have occurred at the local, national and regional levels. These include: Invasion and Islamification - Eurabia and the Islamic Invasion; Physical and Material - minarets and mosques; Culture and ’Our Way of Life’ - between us and them; Values and Freedoms - veils, hijabs and niqabs; Speech and Offence - cartoons and caricatures; Terrorism and Threat - ’home-grown bombers’ to externa

Chris is a Lecturer in the Institute of Applied Social Studies at the University of Birmingham. For more than a decade, Chris has been at the forefront of academic research into the phenomenon of Islamophobia. Having completed his Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded doctoral studies that explored the discourse and theory of the phenomenon at Birmingham, he has since gone on to develop research that has had social, political and public appeal. As well as appearing regularly in the media, in recent years Chris has worked alongside Government in an advisory capacity. Having submitted both written and oral evidence to the House of Lords Select Committee on Religious Offences and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia, Chris also sits in an independent capacity on the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group based in the Department for Communities & Local Government. In 2010, Ashgate published Chris’s critically acclaimed book, "Islamophobia". In addition to this, Chris publishes regularly on that topic and other key issues facing contemporary Muslim communities. As well as the UK, Chris has published in a number of different countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland and the United States. He was also co-author of the now seminal EUMC report into Islamophobia in Europe after 9/11, still the largest monitoring project to have been undertaken into the phenomenon of Islamophobia. As well as Islamophobia, his other research interests include: the role of faith and religion in the public and political spaces; diversity, multiculturalism and super-diversity; and equalities legislation, policy and practice.