Islamophobia and Racism in America By Erik Love (New York: New York University Press, 2017. 267 pages.)

Abstract

This sociological study combines an overview of U.S. Islamophobia in recent
decades, an analysis of a potentially emergent “Middle Eastern American”
identity, and a re-theorization of race that has implications for how effective
political coalitions might be built to address various forms of discrimination
faced by American Muslims and other religio-ethnic groups originating from
the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. While looking back further,
Love’s central focus is on “anti-Islamophobia advocacy at the national level,
from the late 1970s through the early 2010s” (p. 30). Making good use of seventy
interviews conducted from 2005-15, this component represents the book’s
greatest original research contribution. Although provocative, Love’s argument
that we should theorize Islamophobia as racism and politically organize accordingly
is potentially problematic ...