Critical Race Theory and Islamophobia: challenging inequity in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper engages with a dominant model of Islamophobia which gives race and racism primacy. It argues that such an approach is parochial, conceptually narrow and practically ineffective. I take as my case the UK's Muslim student awarding gap -Muslims are currently the worst performing religious group at UK universities. Existing work explains this problem in terms of racism/Islamophobia. These factors are correctly identified, but a lack of analytical precision around race and religion has led strategies to fall back on 'standard' and largely ineffective ideas. I argue that racial and religious disadvantage must be understood separately, though intersectionally, through Critical Race Theory and the concept of 'religification'. Such an analysis sheds light on how institutional approaches to race and religion play a key role in the structuration and perpetuation of educational disadvantage for Muslim students. It also paves the way for more effective strategies for eradicating the awarding gap.

Intersectional oppression: A reflexive dialogue between Muslim academics and their experiences of Islamophobia and exclusion in UK Higher Education

“…Despite the increasing attention paid towards religious inclusion, and the benefits of this for students (Codiroli Mcmaster, 2020; Dumangane, 2017; Park & Bowman, 2015), little is known about Muslim staff members as an underrepresented group, with numerical data concerning Muslim women academics largely being absent (Ramadan, 2021). Where over 90% of Muslim staff members also belong to Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (Advance HE, 2020) in the UK, it is only reasonable to assume that these experiences are further marred by race yet need to be regarded as distinctly different given the element of religion (for a deeper discussion on the racialisation of Muslims and Muslim identity formation see: Garner & Selod, 2015; Gholami, 2021; Kundnani, 2014; Meer & Modood, 2008; Selod & Embrick, 2013).…”

Negotiating Australian academia as a historically white settler colonial institution: A comparison between Muslim and non-Muslim students

“…White education systems, which ‘push race as a serious subject to the margins of scholarship’ (Lentin, 2020, p. 11), impact on racialized students and white students. Young people need education systems that teach racial literacy, emphasizing ‘the relationship between race and power’ (Guinier, 2004, pp. 114–115).…”

Decolonizing the high school and undergraduate curriculum.

“…In recent years, a strong movement has surfaced in the United States targeting public education curricula, particularly those that include critical race theory and a focus on diversity (George, 2021;Gholami, 2021). Other attempts to rewrite history using the curriculum have been made as well.…”