Islamophobia? The German Discussion about Islamophobia
Islamophobia? The German Discussion about Islamophobia

Summary/Abstract: Islamophobia is a term which is relatively new in the world of social science; it is a neologism. Kofi Annan has warned about it but there is not a clear, undoubted concept to it yet – and it is questionable if there ever will be, especially if one looks into the German controversy about the term. The German discussion is not unique though, and it must fall into the pattern of, wider, European discussion about the Islamic minority. Prominent figures of Islamic hatred in Europe are for instance Oriana Fallaci and Brigitte Bardot. Against them, there stands a more liberal community that does not want to follow the language of violence and hatred. Two different standpoints are the main poles of discussion. One group wants to use Islamophobia as a concept, the other group opposes the term. In between, there is the scientific concept of Islamophobia that is threatened to be pulverized before it is even fully conceptualized. In the middle position there are also intellectuals known as Islamic reformers who argue that Islamophobia should be replaced by the term Islam-critique.

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