Flows and modalities of global Islamophobia

Abstract

This editorial introduces the Special Issue on Global Islamophobia. Discussing the seven articles in the Special Issue, we critically assess current theorizations that contend that US imperialism and racialization are fundamental to Islamophobia. The scholarship collected in this Special Issue demonstrates that these are only two of many important dimensions of global Islamophobia. This editorial introduces a matrix of global flows and modalities of Islamophobia as a framework to support global, comparative research on Islamophobia that goes beyond the “Western horizon” that characterizes current research in the field. Then, it describes these flows and modalities and how they provide a coherent basis for research on Islamophobia at a planetary scale. The articles, which focus on transnational articulations of Islamophobia and the role of Islamophobia in group-making across the world, demonstrate the plasticity and compatibility of Islamophobia with a wide range of political agendas, cultural contexts and identities.