Securitizing Islam
Identity and the Search for Security

Securitizing Islam shows how views of Muslims have changed in Britain since 9/11, following debates over terrorism, identity and multiculturalism.

Stuart Croft (Author)

9781107020467, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 9 February 2012

288 pages, 4 b/w illus. 3 tables
23.5 x 15.5 x 1.6 cm, 0.57 kg

'… combines theory with an empirically rich discussion of both historical and contemporary British identity … Securitizing Islam is a stimulating and important book that should be read and debated not only within the field of securitization theory, but by anyone interested in the relationship between security, national identity and Islam.' Frank Foley, European Political Science

Securitizing Islam examines the impact of 9/11 on the lives and perceptions of individuals, focusing on the ways in which identities in Britain have been affected in relation to Islam. 'Securitization' describes the processes by which a particular group or issue comes to be seen as a threat, and thus subject to the perceptions and actions which go with national security. Croft applies this idea to the way in which the attitudes of individuals to their security and to Islam and Muslims have been transformed, affecting the everyday lives of both Muslims and non-Muslims. He argues that Muslims have come to be seen as the 'Other', outside the contemporary conception of Britishness. Reworking securitisation theory and drawing in the sociology of ontological security studies, Securitizing Islam produces a theoretically innovative framework for understanding a contemporary phenomenon that affects the everyday lives of millions.

Introduction
1. Ontological security and Britishness
2. A post-Copenhagen securitisation theory
3. 'Two World Wars and one World Cup': constructing contemporary Britishness
4. 'New Britishness' and the 'new terrorism'
5. The construction of ontological insecurity
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Security services [KNSS], Terrorism, armed struggle [JPWL], International relations [JPS], Islam [HRH], Social & political philosophy [HPS]