The conference is a response to commentators who increasingly justify antipathy to Islam on the grounds that it is based on opposition to religious views and not someone's ethnicity or color. However much recent scholarship has viewed Islamophobia's inferiorizing of Muslims as similar to the inferior status of non-white communities with shared roots in European colonialism. The conference will also discuss how Islamophobia has evolved from and replaced biological racism from the colonial period. It will seek to place Islamophobia within the wider xenophobia narrative engulfing Europe.
Simultaneously a twin conference in Edinburgh will explore the alarming rise of Islamophobia in the UK. It will focus on analyzing institutional and structural forms of prejudice and hatred against Muslims and suggest ways to tackle it. In recent years Islamophobia has become a mainstay of government dealings with British Muslims, not just the hobbyhorse of a right wing fringe. This has stemmed from an increasingly Islamophobiac discourse - created by media and politicians - that perpetuates bigotry towards Muslims and leads to an intensified climate of fear that prevents them from expressing their ideas and beliefs.
The conferences are being jointly organized by Islamic Human Rights Commission and Scotland against Criminalizing Communities. They will be held on Saturday December 12 2015 and will feature a line-up of renowned speakers including Arzu Merali, Les Levidow, Ramon Grosfoguel, Azeezat Johnson, Hatem Bazian, Katy Sian, Malia Bouattia and Roshan Muhammed Salih.
IHRC/MNA