The Winant Lecture in American Government

Backlash against Muslims is on the rise in American politics. This talk will trace how 20 years after the attacks on September 11, 2001, Muslims are arguably situated at the bottom of the American racial hierarchy. Undoubtedly, research shows that animus towards Muslims has increased among the electorate and that anti-Muslim attitudes remain among the single most important predictors of Republican candidate and Trump support in American presidential elections, even after accounting for important factors, such as partisanship. Events such as the War on Terror, domestic terror attacks, the Birther movement, and foreign conflicts, such as the Syrian Civil War, have led to a domestic political climate that has resulted in Muslims being portrayed often and negatively in the news media, experiencing increased surveillance and law enforcement monitoring, facing rampant discrimination and hate, and being excluded and othered by their elected representatives. This lecture will then trace the consequences of Islamophobia in American politics on members of the marginalized group, and will demonstrate in what ways they have been mobilized and demobilized into politics.