An Imaginary Racism
Islamophobia and Guilt
1. Edition September 2022
224 Pages, Softcover
General Reading
Short Description
'Islamophobia' is a term that has existed since the nineteenth century. But in recent decades, argues Pascal Bruckner in his controversial new book, it has become a weapon used to silence criticism of Islam. The term allows those who brandish it in the name of Islam to 'freeze' the latter, making reform difficult. Whereas Christianity and Judaism have been rejuvenated over the centuries by external criticism, Islam has been shielded from critical examination and has remained impervious to change. This tendency is exacerbated by the hypocrisy of those Western defenders of Islam who, in the name of the principles of the Enlightenment, seek to muzzle its critics while at the same time demanding the right to chastise and criticize other religions. These developments, argues Bruckner, are counter-productive for Western democracies as they struggle with the twin challenges of immigration and terrorism. The return of religion in those democracies must not be equated with the defence of fanaticism, and the right to religious freedom must go hand in hand with freedom of expression, an openness to criticism, and a rejection of all forms of extremism.
There are already more than enough forms of racism; there is no need to imagine more. While all violence directed against Muslims is to be strongly condemned and punished, defining these acts as 'Islamophobic' rather than criminal does more to damage Islam and weaken the position of Muslims than to strengthen them.
'Islamophobia' is a term that has existed since the nineteenth century. But in recent decades, argues Pascal Bruckner in his controversial new book, it has become a weapon used to silence criticism of Islam. The term allows those who brandish it in the name of Islam to 'freeze' the latter, making reform difficult. Whereas Christianity and Judaism have been rejuvenated over the centuries by external criticism, Islam has been shielded from critical examination and has remained impervious to change. This tendency is exacerbated by the hypocrisy of those Western defenders of Islam who, in the name of the principles of the Enlightenment, seek to muzzle its critics while at the same time demanding the right to chastise and criticize other religions. These developments, argues Bruckner, are counter-productive for Western democracies as they struggle with the twin challenges of immigration and terrorism. The return of religion in those democracies must not be equated with the defence of fanaticism, and the right to religious freedom must go hand in hand with freedom of expression, an openness to criticism, and a rejection of all forms of extremism.
There are already more than enough forms of racism; there is no need to imagine more. While all violence directed against Muslims is to be strongly condemned and punished, defining these acts as 'Islamophobic' rather than criminal does more to damage Islam and weaken the position of Muslims than to strengthen them.
Introduction: A Semantic Revolution
Part I The Fabrication of a Crime of Opinion
1. The Disappearance of Race, the Proliferation of Racists
2. A Weapon of Mass Intimidation
3. The Miracle of Transubstantiation
Part II The Left Suffering from Denial
4. Islamo-Leftism, or the Conjunction of Resentments
5. An Unnatural Marriage
6. The Victim's Guilt, the Murderer's Innocence
Part III Are Muslims the Equivalent of Jews?
7. From the Principle of Equivalence to the Principle of Substitution
8. Exterminations Galore
9. The Jew, An Accursed White
10. A Semantic Racket
Part IV Are We Guilty of Existing?
11. The Criminalization of Reticence
12. Minorities, Protection or Prison?
13. The Racism of the Anti-Racists
14. Should the West be De-Colonized?
Part V What is God's Future?
15. Is the War on Terror a Sham?
16. Resistance or Penitence
17. Western Values are not Negotiable
8. Weary of God
19. The Grandeur and the Tragedy of Tolerance
Epilogue: On History as a Warning
Notes
Richard Wolin, City University of New York
'In the worldwide debate over the Islamist movement, nobody has been more incisive than Pascal Bruckner, and nobody has been more influential. He set the terms of the debate many years ago, and he continues to do so. He is a brilliant writer, and An Imaginary Racism is a characteristically brilliant book.'
Paul Berman, author of The Flight of the Intellectuals
'Provocative and well-argued, An Imaginary Racism reveals how the concept of Islamophobia has been politicized and distorted, and what this says about the West today. An important work for our times.'
Richard J. Golsan, Texas A&M University
'brave and necessary... Bruckner... has long been a crucial voice in the fight against the new false pieties that are abetting reactionary forces within Islam. We need to attend to his warning, and his promise: "It is impossible to escape the challenge of the century now beginning: In collaboration with the enlightened or moderate Muslims who are its main victims, we must defeat the fanaticism of the Islamists." This is an "immense task," Bruckner concludes, but nothing is more necessary if we want democracy to survive, let alone thrive, in the 21st century.'
The Tablet
