Constructing and contesting threat: representations of white British Muslims across British national and Muslim newspapers

Amer, Amena and Howarth, Caroline (2018) Constructing and contesting threat: representations of white British Muslims across British national and Muslim newspapers. European Journal of Social Psychology, 48 (5). pp. 614-628. ISSN 0046-2772

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Abstract

White British Muslims pose a challenge to racialized representations of British Muslims as non-white, foreign and Other. By drawing on tools from Critical Discourse Analysis to develop Social Representations Theory on a micro-analytic level, and making connections with other relevant social psychological theories on intergroup relations, this paper examines the constructions of white British Muslims as a threat in six national and two Muslim British newspapers. It looks at how discourses are used to create, perpetuate and challenge the ‘hegemonisation’ of social representations in majority and minority press. The findings show that white British Muslims are portrayed as a threat not just despite of, but because of their position as part of the ‘white British’ ingroup. Consequently, the threat they pose often leads to their Muslimness being emphasised. This was, at times, contested however, either through direct challenges, or by making the threat ambivalent by drawing on their whiteness.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(IS...
Additional Information:	© 2017 John Wiley & Sons
Divisions:	Psychological and Behavioural Science
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BL Religion H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman H Social Sciences > HT Communities. Classes. Races
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2017 14:56
Last Modified:	02 Nov 2024 20:12
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/85682

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