The media has tapped into this fear and escalated problems further. Hamel explains, “the media and their experts essentialized Islam and the ‘Muslim race’ and dehistoricized difference. They confused what is historical, cultural, and political for biological and genetic traits.” By racializing a religion and diverse group of people, the media has cultivated all xenophobic, racist, and sexist views towards Muslims, ignoring all other aspects of this diverse group of people. The rise of identity politics in the global north, particularly the European Union and the United States, has created a backlash of groups clinging more strongly to their identities if there are marginalized. This leads to an ‘us vs. them’ viewpoint and a rise of white nationalism. The common theme seems to be, “these people are in ‘our’ country and could turn into fundamentalists applying the Shari’a in France, therefore injecting fear: an Islamic threat to liberal values.” Media outlets in France treat Islam as a primitive and incomprehensible religion that always seeks to promote a fundamentalist agenda and sabotage the state and their more developed, liberal western
The media has tapped into this fear and escalated problems further. Hamel explains, “the media and their experts essentialized Islam and the ‘Muslim race’ and dehistoricized difference. They confused what is historical, cultural, and political for biological and genetic traits.” By racializing a religion and diverse group of people, the media has cultivated all xenophobic, racist, and sexist views towards Muslims, ignoring all other aspects of this diverse group of people. The rise of identity politics in the global north, particularly the European Union and the United States, has created a backlash of groups clinging more strongly to their identities if there are marginalized. This leads to an ‘us vs. them’ viewpoint and a rise of white nationalism. The common theme seems to be, “these people are in ‘our’ country and could turn into fundamentalists applying the Shari’a in France, therefore injecting fear: an Islamic threat to liberal values.” Media outlets in France treat Islam as a primitive and incomprehensible religion that always seeks to promote a fundamentalist agenda and sabotage the state and their more developed, liberal western