Deconstructing Islamophobia

Immigration, Globalization, and Constructing the Other

presented by the Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley
co-sponsored by the Center for Islamic Studies, Graduate Theological Union

In today’s world, Islam and Muslims are the feared “other” and the responses to the perceived threat they pose is already connected to every local, regional and global process. The “othering of Islam and Muslims” is already well underway with devastating consequences in Muslim communities, where virtual states of siege have set in, and in societies at large, where civil rights and protections have been severely curtailed in the name of “security.” Despite the manifold and variegated implications of Islamophobia as a structural organizing principle, the topic has yet to receive comprehensive treatment in the academy. The conference seeks to provide an open scholarly exchange, exploring new approaches to the study of the current period, de-constructing the organizing processes that gave birth to Islamophobia, and studying its interconnectedness to existing and historical otherness in the areas of race, gender and “post-colonial” studies. The conference will explore and pose a number of questions that can be the springboard for further collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches to de-constructing Islamophobia. How should we approach Islamophobia and how can we think of it within the field(s) of post-colonial studies and/or Ethnic Studies? What would be Islamophobia's impact on the move from a post-colonial into a de-colonization approach? What new or modified theoretical frameworks should be employed? How adequate are current methodologies in existing academic fields to the task of de-constructing Islamophobia. Can these methodologies be adjusted or do we need an entirely new paradigm? If so, then what, where and how?"

Schedule

Friday, April 25

Saturday, April 26