Securitizing Islam Identity and the Search for Security

Securitizing Islam examines the impact of 9/11 on the lives and perceptions of individuals, focusing on the ways in which identities in Britain have been affected in relation to Islam. 'Securitization' describes the processes by which a particular group or issue comes to be seen as a threat, and thus subject to the perceptions and actions which go with national security. Croft applies this idea to the way in which the attitudes of individuals to their security and to Islam and Muslims have been transformed, affecting the everyday lives of both Muslims and non-Muslims. He argues that Muslims have come to be seen as the 'Other', outside the contemporary conception of Britishness. Reworking securitisation theory and drawing in the sociology of ontological security studies, Securitizing Islam produces a theoretically innovative framework for understanding a contemporary phenomenon that affects the everyday lives of millions.

Introduction; 1. Ontological security and Britishness; 2. A post-Copenhagen securitisation theory; 3. 'Two World Wars and one World Cup': constructing contemporary Britishness; 4. 'New Britishness' and the 'new terrorism'; 5. The construction of ontological insecurity; Conclusion.

Securitizing Islam examines the impact of 9/11, focusing on the ways in which identities in Britain have been affected in relation to Islam. Croft looks at how the promotion of Britishness has in part led to Muslims being seen as a threat to security.

Stuart Croft is Professor of International Security at the University of Warwick. His work is in the field of security studies and his most recent book is Culture, Crisis and America's War on Terror (2006).