Islamism in Popular Western Discourse
Islamism in Popular Western Discourse
June 23, 2011
Islamism in Popular Western Discourse
Written by David Belt
Policy Perspectives , Volume6 , Number2, July – December 2009
Abstract[The 9/11 attacks gave birth to a popular discourse on "Islamism"-both signifier and the signified-in the Western world that predictably returned data showing accentuated potential threats and anti-Western attitudes known as resistance. The present Western discourse produced popular securitization of Islamism, the development of popular expertise, and the construction of Islamism's identity that has occurred in a highly contested field of power, resulting in dominant narratives and narratives of resistance, or counternarratives. The dominant constructed identity of "Islamism" is becoming less stable and even schizophrenic; the challenging narratives are not so much broadening and deepening that identity as they are providing an alternative identity, or weak antithesis. Western popular discourse generally uses "Islamism" when discussing the negative or "that-which-is-bad" in Muslim communities. The signifier, "Islam," on the other hand, is reserved for the positive or neutral.The result is a banal discursive practice and binary framing schema of "good Muslim/bad Islamist" which is the product of the "clash of Islam with Islamism" narrative. The dominant narratives are the product of the larger grand narratives, such as the "clash of civilizations" and the counternarratives in such broad and popular genre demonstrate that narrative diversity exists with respect to Islamism, and that the dominant narrative is far from hegemony. - Editors]
Introduction
“Islamism”-both signifier and the signified-literally exploded in popular Western discourse in the aftermath of the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on America, widely known as “9/11.” The rupture of meaning and the ensuing global gaze on Islam that followed the attacks predictably returned data that accentuated potential threats, for example, the desecularization of Islamic communities, known as pan-Islamism, and an apparent attending increase in violence and anti-Western attitudes, known as resistance. The consequent popular securitization of Islamism, development of popular expertise, and construction of Islamism’s identity in popular Western discourse have occurred in a highly contested field of power, resulting in dominant narratives and narratives of resistance, or “counternarratives.”To read full article visit http://www.vofnews.com/?=730
coutesy:Institute of policy studies Islamabad
Written by David Belt
Policy Perspectives , Volume6 , Number2, July – December 2009
Abstract[The 9/11 attacks gave birth to a popular discourse on "Islamism"-both signifier and the signified-in the Western world that predictably returned data showing accentuated potential threats and anti-Western attitudes known as resistance. The present Western discourse produced popular securitization of Islamism, the development of popular expertise, and the construction of Islamism's identity that has occurred in a highly contested field of power, resulting in dominant narratives and narratives of resistance, or counternarratives. The dominant constructed identity of "Islamism" is becoming less stable and even schizophrenic; the challenging narratives are not so much broadening and deepening that identity as they are providing an alternative identity, or weak antithesis. Western popular discourse generally uses "Islamism" when discussing the negative or "that-which-is-bad" in Muslim communities. The signifier, "Islam," on the other hand, is reserved for the positive or neutral.The result is a banal discursive practice and binary framing schema of "good Muslim/bad Islamist" which is the product of the "clash of Islam with Islamism" narrative. The dominant narratives are the product of the larger grand narratives, such as the "clash of civilizations" and the counternarratives in such broad and popular genre demonstrate that narrative diversity exists with respect to Islamism, and that the dominant narrative is far from hegemony. - Editors]
Introduction
“Islamism”-both signifier and the signified-literally exploded in popular Western discourse in the aftermath of the 2001 al-Qaeda attacks on America, widely known as “9/11.” The rupture of meaning and the ensuing global gaze on Islam that followed the attacks predictably returned data that accentuated potential threats, for example, the desecularization of Islamic communities, known as pan-Islamism, and an apparent attending increase in violence and anti-Western attitudes, known as resistance. The consequent popular securitization of Islamism, development of popular expertise, and construction of Islamism’s identity in popular Western discourse have occurred in a highly contested field of power, resulting in dominant narratives and narratives of resistance, or “counternarratives.”To read full article visit http://www.vofnews.com/?=730
coutesy:Institute of policy studies Islamabad
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