Short Abstract:

What are the technologies that facilitate the spread of Islamophobia locally, regionally, transnationally and globally? To what extent and how are Islamophobic messages changed and adapted to the technological infrastructure available for their distribution?

Long Abstract:

The last decades have witnessed a rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic sentiments and practices across the world. This is sometimes expressed in traditional media and in social media and it sometimes takes the shape of discrimination and surveillance by authorities. Concerns over Islam and Muslim practices (like female veiling, halal slaughter, and public religiosity) have become a prominent feature of public debate in Europe and North America. Importantly, however, Islamophobia is not confined to the ‘West’. On the contrary, anti-Muslim sentiments are high in other parts of the world as well, for instance in Hindu and Buddhist societies in Asia. In existing research, the global and transnational aspects of Islamophobia have received too little scholarly attention, and are mostly treated as parallel, local phenomena. However, Islamophobia travels across borders and between contexts in various ways and at various speeds. We ask: What are the technologies that facilitate the spread of Islamophobia locally, regionally, transnationally and globally? To what extent and how are Islamophobic messages changed and adapted to the technological infrastructure available for their distribution? We are interested in papers addressing these questions with empirical data both from the past as well as from the present and across cultures.