Intersecting globalization, islamophobia, radicalization, and securitization

Ever since the end of the Cold War, there has been a growing phenomenon of Islamophobia and radicalization in the global North. The first is a function of exclusion, 'othering', and misrepresentation of Islam and Muslims. The latter is a set of social challenges that have led people to paths of extremism and political violence, largely as a response to structural and political marginalization. However, the dominant hegemonic discourse is to argue that Islamophobia is a reality of the responses to processes of self-isolation of Muslim groups who have selected to live 'parallel lives'. Similarly, radicalization is regarded as a problem of the 'Islamization of politics', where Islamic political radicalism is a manifestation of ideologically motivated religious violence. I argue that both Islamophobia and radicalization are manifestations of intersections of race, racism, racialism, and the racialization of Islam and Muslims in Britain today. That is, the othering of Muslim groups leads to patterns of discrimination based on their construction as the objectified other. Issues of exclusion lead to patterns of disadvantage that compound existing social tensions. The constant negative attention paid to Muslim groups creates the normalization of hate and disdain sustained by media and politics. This enhances existing exclusionary practices leading to entrenchment and normalization. In conclusion, it is argued that a greater understanding of these issues is essential to empower groups in society to resist the forces that seek to divide and cause Islamophobia to feed into radicalization and vice versa.