The impact of Islamophobia.
Muslims, as members of minority communities in the West, grow up against a background of everyday Islamophobia. I suggest that the Muslim self internalized in such a setting is denigrated (Fanon 1952), a problem usually grappled with during adolescence when identity formation is the key developmental task. This typically involves the adolescent taking on polarized positions and embracing extreme causes. Following the 9/11 and 7/7 attacks Islamophobia intensified, which can be understood, at the psychological level, as an internal racist defence against overwhelming anxiety. Within that defensive organization, which I describe, fundamentalism is inscribed as the problematic heart of Islam, complicating the adolescent's attempt to come to terms with the inner legacy of everyday Islamophobia. I explore these themes through a case study of a young man who travelled to Afghanistan in the 1990s, and by brief reference to Ed Husain's "The Islamist" and Mohsin Hamid's novel "The Reluctant Fundamentalist".
Institute of Psychoanalysis, London
M Fakhry
MF
Davids
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D041923:Adolescent Development / Q000502:physiology; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D007514:Islam / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D008877:Middle East / Q000208:ethnology; D011287:Prejudice; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D011822:Race Relations / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D012067:Religion / Q000266:history; D012924:Social Conditions / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history; D012933:Social Identification; D012945:Social Values / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology