Rhonda Itaoui and Elsadig Elsheik, researchers for the Global Justice Program at the Haas Institute, have just publisjed this Reading Resource Pack on Islamophobia, as part of a larger project of documenting and countering this form of discrimination.
With the purpose of promoting the works and researches on Islamophobia among a more general public (the introduction to the Pack mentions activists, civil rights organizations, community workers, counselors, students, researchers, and policymakers, among others), the publication provides a thematic overview of current academic research focused on the United States.
With the purpose of promoting the works and researches on Islamophobia among a more general public, the publication provides a thematic overview of current academic research focused on the United States.
For the development of this well-documented Pack, the Haas Institute defines Islamophobia as: “a belief that Islam is a monolithic religion whose followers, Muslims, do not share common values with other major faiths; is inferior to Judaism and Christianity; is archaic, barbaric, and irrational; is a religion of violence that supports terrorism; and is a violent political ideology.”
Themes covered
The Pack constitutes a huge source of documents on Islamophobia, from the most cited works (see, for instance, Said’s Orientalism, a cornerstone of the study of the otherization of the East and the Muslim civilization) to those recommended by the authors. In order to do so, Itaoui and Elsheikh divide the document in the following topics:
- Politics and Foreign Policy
- Legal System and National Security
- Mainstream and Digital Media
- Othering, Discrimination, and Hate Crimes
- Gendered Dimensions
- Health and Community Well-being
- Geography and the Public Space
- Counter-narratives and Strategies
- Young American Muslims and Belonging
Unfortunately, not all of the publications enlisted are public or free, so it will depend on the resources of the specialists for them to use them. In spite of this, the big number of articles and authors working on Islamophobia cited, the fact that some of them are public and the wide idea this document gives, as a whole, of the different dimensions where Islamophobia is present makes it a very valuable and useful document for all people collaborating in the fight against Islamophobia.
Click on the link to read the full Reading Resource Pack: https://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/islamophobia_reading_pack_publish.pdf
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