Sep 6th, 2012

Book Launch: Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire

Date: Sep 06, 2012	Time: 7:00 pm	Price: Suggested Donation $5 (no one turned away for lack of funds)
Location: Alwan for the Arts 16 Beaver Street \| 4th Floor (Between Broad St. & Broadway) New York
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Haymarket Books is proud to present

in association with the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Council on American-Islamic Relations of New York (CAIR-NYC)

Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire

A book launch event featuring Deepa Kumar

With special guest Moustafa Bayoumi

http://www.alwanforthearts.org/event/886

with reception to follow

Co-sponsored by:

Al Awda NY, Alwan for the Arts, Center for Constitutional Rights, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-NY),

Desis Rising Up & Moving (DRUM), Haymarket Books, Jewish Voice for Peace, Jews Against Islamophobia, Students for Justice in Palestine (NYU),

The United People of Color Caucus of the National Lawyers Guild

“This is a timely and crucial book. From historical roots

to ideological causes, Islamophobia is studied in a holistic,

profound, and serious way.”

- Tariq Ramadan, Oxford University

In the week after suburban Chicago Congressman Joe Walsh claimed “there is a radical strain of Islam in this country - trying to kill Americans every week,” there were two separate attacks in the suburban Chicago area – one on a mosque in Morton Grove and the other a few miles away at an Islamic school in Lombard.

These attacks come just weeks after a mosque in Joplin, Missouri was burned to the ground in an apparent arson attack, and one week after the temple shooting in Wisconsin of Sikh worshippers targeted for looking Muslim.

Attacks on Arabs and Muslims are nothing new, and neither are incitations to violence based on claims about an existential “Muslim threat.” In the wake of 9/11, Islamophobia – in both neoconservative and liberal forms – has been an important ideological pillar of the “War on Terror.”

In her new book, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, Deepa Kumar analyzes the historical roots of Islamophobia, offering a sweeping historical analysis of the changing views of Islam and Muslims in the West, and examining the ways that ruling elites throughout history have used the specter of “a Muslim enemy” to justify their imperial projects.

By deconstructing the most persistent myths about Islam and Muslims, and explaining the role Islamophobia continues to play in justifying war abroad and political repression at home, Kumar makes a powerful case for a movement that challenges both anti-Muslim racism and the project of empire.

Deepa Kumar is an Associate Professor of Media Studies and Middle East Studies at Rutgers University. Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire is her second book. She has contributed to numerous outlets, including the BBC, USA Today, the Nation, and the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Moustafa Bayoumi is author of How Does It Feel To Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America, which won an American Book Award and the Arab American Book Award for Non-Fiction. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, The London Review of Books, the Nation, and others.

Paperback | $17 | Bulk Discounts Available | ISBN: 9781608462117

Available from HaymarketBooks.org

The author is available for select interviews.

With questions, to set up an interview, or for a review copy, contact Jim Plank | jim@haymarketbooks.org | 773-583-7884