Islamophobia in the First Decades of the Twenty-first Century: Observations from Latin America’s Southern Cone

• Author: Isaac Caro
• Published date: 01 May 2019
• Date: 01 May 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X19831441
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X19831441

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 226, Vol. 46 No. 3, May 2019, 13–25

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X19831441

© 2019 Latin American Perspectives

13

Islamophobia in the First Decades of the Twenty-first

Century

Observations from Latin America’s Southern Cone

by

Isaac Caro

Translated by

Carlos Pérez

The 9/11 attack and the war on terrorism declared by the United States produced a new

dynamic with regard to the struggle against intolerance and, in particular, Islamophobia.

The increase in Islamophobia is related to the clash-of-civilizations discourse that has

served to justify a foreign policy adopted by Republican administrations in the United

States, in which Islam is the principal enemy to be fought and defeated.

El ataque del 11-S y la guerra contra el terrorismo declarada por los Estados Unidos

produjeron una nueva dinámica con respecto a la lucha contra la intolerancia y, en par-

ticular, la islamofobia. El aumento de la islamofobia está relacionado con el discurso de

choque de civilizaciones que ha servido para justificar una política exterior adoptada por

las administraciones republicanas en los Estados Unidos, en la que el Islam es el principal

enemigo que hay que combatir y derrotar.

Keywords: Islam, Islamophobia, Latin America, Clash of civilizations, Middle East

The events of 9/11 and the subsequent war against terrorism proclaimed by

the United States government produced a new dynamic with regard to the

struggle against intolerance and, in particular, Islamophobia. As a result of sub-

sequent attacks in Europe after 2001 (in Madrid in 2004, London in 2005, Paris

in 2015, Copenhagen in 2015, and Brussels in 2016) and the academic debate

concerning the clash of civilizations, Western society’s perception of Muslims

has deteriorated, with prejudice and discrimination being reinforced as they

are increasingly viewed with distrust and hostility and stigmatized for their

beliefs. Many studies, among them those of the European Monitoring Center

on Racism and Xenophobia, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and

the Conference on Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, report

an increase in Islamophobia on a global scale, especially in the European con-

text, since 9/11. Islamophobic acts take various forms, some explicit and obvi-

ous and others not. They include verbal and physical attacks on Muslims and

attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned properties and sacrilegious acts. In

Isaac Caro is a researcher in political science and international relations at the Universidad Alberto

Hurtado in Santiago. This study is part of the FONDECYT Project no. 1150057. Carlos Pérez is an

associate professor of Chicano and Latin American studies at California State University, Fresno.

831441LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X19831441Latin American PerspectivesCaro / Islamophobia In The Southern Cone

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