Outsiders at Home
The Politics of American Islamophobia

Muslim Americans are grossly marginalized in US democracy and mainstream politics. The situation developed rapidly and is getting worse.

Nazita Lajevardi (Author)

9781108749503, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 May 2020

306 pages
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.51 kg

'… this text will inform audiences beyond political science, including those interested in patterns of racialization, political engagement, and efforts to undo structural inequality.' J. deGuzman, Choice

Discrimination against Muslim Americans has soared over the last two decades with hostility growing especially acute since 2016 - in no small part due to targeted attacks by policymakers and media. Outsiders at Home offers the first systematic, empirically driven examination of status of Muslim Americans in US democracy, evaluating the topic from a variety of perspectives. To what extent do Muslim Americans face discrimination by legislators, the media, and the general public? What trends do we see over time, and how have conditions shifted? What, if anything, can be done to reverse course? How do Muslim Americans view their position, and what are the psychic and sociopolitical tolls? Answering each of these questions, Nazita Lajevardi shows that the rampant, mostly negative discussion of Muslims in media and national discourse has yielded devastating political and social consequences.

1. A climate of Muslim American hostility
2. Theoretical framework: the sociopolitical positioning of Muslim Americans
3. Introducing the 'Muslim American resentment' scale
4. Muslim American prospects for political incorporation
5. The news media's portrayals of Muslim Americans
6. Improving mass attitudes: the media's role in shaping group attitudes and policy preferences
7. Muslim American representation: outsiders in their own country?
8. The flipside: Muslim American experiences of discrimination
9. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Politics & government [JP], Religious groups: social & cultural aspects [JFSR], Ethnic minorities & multicultural studies [JFSL1], Social discrimination & inequality [JFFJ], Media studies [JFD], Religious intolerance, persecution & conflict [HRAM9], Religion & politics [HRAM2], Religion & beliefs [HR], History of the Americas [HBJK]