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Critical Perspectives on Hate Crime pp 253–274Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Islamophobia, Anti-Muslim Racism and Conceptions of Irish Homogeneity

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Hate Studies ((PAHS))

Abstract

Historically informed notions of belonging in the Irish context have come to be perceived as inextricably intertwined with, among others, membership of the Catholic faith (Tracey 2000). In the periods prior to and post independence, this racialised Catholic Irishness has become institutionalised in Irish society (Fanning 2002; Garner 2009). In what follows, I will demonstrate the manner in which the collocation of Catholicism with Irish identity has resulted in exclusionary practices towards those who do not fit this idealised identity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I do not argue that Muslims form a distinct ‘race’. ‘Races’ do not exist but are socially constructed. In the case of Muslim communities, presented as homogenous, attributes such as proclivities towards terrorism are ascribed to Muslim men and women; Muslim communities are constructed as a monolithic group with said innate attributes inter alia through process of racialisation discussed further later (see also Carr 2016; Carr and Haynes 2013).

  2. 2.

    It is worth noting that although overwhelmingly Catholic, members of the Traveller community in Ireland have been constructed as a threatening ‘Other’ associated, through rural mythology, with poor crop returns and a form of Catholic lore that implicated Travellers with the crucifixion of Christ, the result of which was their ‘fate’ to be forever nomadic and excluded from the dominant society (Fanning 2012, p. 48).

  3. 3.

    It is important to note that religious, cultural and/or phenotypical characteristics may operate in isolation or at intersection – working together to amplify one’s ‘Otherness’.

  4. 4.

    According to the 2011 Census, the Muslim population in Ireland has a gender distribution of 57 per cent male and 43 per cent female (Central Statistics Office 2015); the sample in the research discussed here had a gender distribution of 59 per cent male and 41 per cent female.

  5. 5.

    Carr (2016) demonstrates the manner in which members of Ireland’s Sikh community have been targeted with anti-Muslim hostility on the mistaken assumption that they are Muslim.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    James Carr

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  1. James Carr
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  1. Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Amanda Haynes

  2. School of Law, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Jennifer Schweppe

  3. Department of Applied Social Studies, Maynooth University , Maynooth, Ireland

    Seamus Taylor

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Carr, J. (2017). Islamophobia, Anti-Muslim Racism and Conceptions of Irish Homogeneity. In: Haynes, A., Schweppe, J., Taylor, S. (eds) Critical Perspectives on Hate Crime. Palgrave Hate Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52667-0_14

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