University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

The 'new' barbarians: governmentality, securitization and Islam in Western Europe

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 13:31 authored by June EdmundsJune Edmunds
In the post 9/11 context new forms of governance of Muslims based on the resurfacing of old colonial ideas have emerged. Micro-surveillance measures involving the hyper-legalization of settled Muslim populations in Western Europe have led to a curtailment of rights through legal measures and political discourses. A new form of governmentality identifies signs of religious belief, such as the hijab, as a potential threat to national identity and security. Operating through a combination of legal mechanisms and popular narratives based on themes associated with colonial governance, Muslims have been 'cast out' of law and politics. With decolonization, this narrative has been transformed into one about a 'home-grown' alien force whose transnational attachments, thought to be evident in a refusal to confine religious identity to the private sphere, are presented as a risk that needs to be contained. European Muslims have rebelled against their removal from the protection of the law by declaring their rights as citizens and as humans as a way of combating religious and cultural discrimination. Historically, human rights have emerged out of processes of containment and exclusions. Today, a new generation of Muslims has appropriated the language of rights to protest against these exclusions, holding the mirror up to the transgressors of human rights: their original proponents. This is a case of 'realized citizenship' in which European Muslims gain access to and mobilize resources and skills to bridge the gap between the promise of citizenship and human rights

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Contemporary Islam

ISSN

1872-0218

Publisher

Springer

Issue

1

Volume

6

Page range

67-84

Department affiliated with

  • Sociology and Criminology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-11-13

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2012-11-13

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC