The Chair and Founder of CRG’s Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project (IRDP), Professor Hatem Bazian, interviewed Professor Jasmin Zine on October 21 about her recently published book, Under Siege – Islamophobia and the 9/11 generation. The Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project (IRDP) at U.C. Berkeley in California is linked with Professor Jasmin Zine.
Muslim Self-Censorship Among Muslims from the “9/11 Generation” is Elaborated by Professor Zine
Professor Zine spoke about the perception of censorship that Muslims who were raised in the “generation of 9/11” have. It has an impact on one’s ability to express oneself when one is a young person growing up in America and exposed to stereotypes and clichés. One participant in her study told her that because the Muslim Student Association (MSA) at their campus was demonized as “suspect” by Islamophobic bigots across America, they were discouraged from joining because of the risks and stigma associated with practicing Islam.
Detailed interviews with more than 130 young people, youth workers, and community leaders formed the basis for this book. The ethnographic study explores the mechanisms of Islamophobia as an oppressive system and looks at how it affects Muslim adolescents in Canada. The effects of the worldwide War on Terror have been extensively studied, but this book stands out because it takes a close look at how young Muslims who were maturing during the rise and increased rates of Islamophobia experienced those effects.
On the campus of UC Berkeley, Professor Hatem Bazian addresses issues
Professor Hatem Bazian, who teaches at U.C. Berklee, claimed that parents dropping off their kids at school would even advise them not to join organizations like the MSA or Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) because of the intense scrutiny and harassment that members of these groups experience from bigots who are anti-Islam and pro-Zionism. This sentiment is shared by Professor Zine, who asserts that parents kept their kids away from organizations deemed “suspicious” by the Islamophobic criteria. The Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project at UC Berkeley was co-founded by Hatem Bazian.
By bringing together academics, thinkers, practitioners, and researchers from all over the world who engage, question, and challenge the existing imbalances in economic, political, social, and cultural relations, the IRDP, led by Dr. Hatem Bazian, highlights research and projects that explore the maintenance and extension of current power paradigms.
The IRDP’s website analyzes and defines Islamophobia by tracing its development across time. The suggested working definition is as follows: “The current Eurocentric and Orientalist global power structure is the source of the manufactured fear or prejudice known as Islamophobia. By maintaining and escalating existing inequalities in economic, political, social, and cultural connections and justifying the use of violence as a means to achieve “civilizational rehab” of the target groups, it is intended to counter a real or perceived Muslim danger (Muslim or otherwise). Through the reintroduction and reaffirmation of a global racial framework, resource distribution imbalances are sustained and expanded, thanks to islamophobia.
Professor Jasmin Zine’s “The Canadian Islamophobia Industry: Mapping Islamophobia’s Ecosystem in the Great White North” is the most current IRDP publication.
Dr. Hatem Bazian and Dr. Jasmin Zine, two professors, have worked tirelessly for years to eradicate Islamophobia in America via education. The discussion on Islamophobia as a widespread issue and the various and inventive strategies used by activists and individuals who have been impacted by it to address it came to a close.
