Good and Bad Muslims in Britain: Community Cohesion and Counterterrorism Discourse

Abstract

This chapter argues that since 2001 Muslims have been defined as an internal and an external threat to Britain. Two state sponsored discourses were central to this representation: community cohesion and counterterrorism. Community cohesion discourse explained the summer 2001 Northern riots as resulting from the proliferation of self-segregating communities who lived parallel lives without integration. Counterterrorism discourse responded to the 9/11 and 7/7 terrorist attacks through the Prevent programme which sanctioned ‘extremist mosques‘and funded Islamic organisations that worked to combat radicalisation. Jackson argues that these discourses split Muslims into good and bad, where violence was exteriorised and British values were articulated as a solution to the problems caused by excessive Muslim cultural diversity.