Suchergebnisse

People are multi-identited subject to multiple layers of identities, some more pronounced than others. The level of significance attached to each identity is dependent on different factors, among them spatiality and temporality. In extreme cases, one identity is brought to the forefront of all others, potentially at the expense of all others. For such shuffling and reshuffling to take place, often a choice is made by the subject/object. This space for choice and agency could be minimized, influenced by others, or simply rendered nonexistent by those who are willing and wield significant power. This article examines the adoption of singular identities by the Afghans who took part in the Jihad and became Mujahidin, an American-supported insurgency that resisted Soviet occupation and its satellite state in Kabul in the 1980s. This paper argues that the space for deliberation and critical engagement by potential recruits was organized in such a way that little to no scrutiny was allowed when inviting potential recruits to adopt the mantle of the Mujahid. Safeguarding Afghanistan's independence, introduction of radical Islamism, and deliberate targeting of specific parts of the populace, is fundamental to that intervention.

In a wide variety of studies over the past two decades, the media has consistently been identified as a significant social institution implicated in normalizing and disseminating anti-Muslim prejudice. Identifying and combating Islamophobic discourses has been a challenging proposition, however, due to difficulties in systematically identifying and evaluating "Islamophobia" within texts. Islamophobia is a complex and contested phenomenon that defies easy classification within the boundaries of terminology which would normally be employed to describe hostility or prejudice based on, for example, race or religion. This article outlines some of the challenges involved in defining and categorizing Islamophobic discourses through an exploration of the process of constructing, evaluating, and applying a unique content analysis instrument, the "Islamophobia Index," to media texts, using data sets drawn from the Australian news media. We critically reflect upon the methodological limitations of systematic quantitative studies, the importance of qualitative and interpretive approaches that take into account researcher subjectivities, and ultimately reposition and repurpose this project as a mixed-method study. In conclusion, potential applications for the Index, including non-media textual analysis, are considered.