Trust, Politics and Fear
Growing up in the Age of Terror

Australian Muslim Voices on Islamophobia, race and the 'War on Terror' by Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah

Forward by Randa Abdel-Fattah

This bibliography collates a sample of op-eds, commentary, radio and TV interviews, podcasts and spoken word performances created and authored by Australian Muslims on the subject of Islamophobia, race and ‘the War on Terror’ from the early 2000s to date.

The purpose of this bibliography is to offer a resource to researchers, teachers, students and journalists that reflects the diversity of opinions and interventions among Australian Muslims. The Muslim authors and creators of the works below come from a variety of professional backgrounds: academics, journalists, social workers, religious scholars, activists, creative artists, writers and lawyers. The range of works clearly demonstrate that there are different conceptual and theoretical approaches among Australian Muslims to the issues of Islamophobia, race, multiculturalism, countering violent extremism and so on. Further, the works reflect a multiplicity of intersectional identities and lived experiences among Australian Muslims.

The works listed below also demonstrate conflicting, indeed sometimes diametrically opposing, characterizations and definitions of concepts such as Islamophobia, race and radicalisation. While the resource is clearly not exhaustive, a cursory read of works over the timeline covered quickly shows how conversations and arguments have evolved. The cluster of explanatory works in the early 2000s, in the immediate post 9/11 years, has evolved over the years into more critical interrogatory interventions. I am the first to admit that some of my own work reflects this shift and that some of my early commentary around ‘moderate’ and ‘extremist’ Muslims is at complete odds with my current understanding of Islamophobia, my training in critical race theory, and how I now approach the politics of speaking as a Muslim in the ‘war on terror’. I have nonetheless included such op eds because it is important to trace how discourses and advocacy have shifted and changed. I am certain that some of the writers and creators whose range of work is listed below would agree that they too have refined and reassessed their own understandings and intellectual positions. In placing all these divergent works together I hope we can learn from past mistakes, identify points of intersection and difference, and build a more coherent and collectivised solidarity movement among each other and with other marginalised groups.

The final thing I want to say is that what this resource makes plain is that for years Australian Muslims have invested tremendous intellectual, emotional and creative labour informing, educating, arguing, analysing, critiquing and creating in the context of the war on terror and debates about Muslims and Islam. Month after month, year after year, Muslims are asked the same questions, called upon to engage in the same debates. And month after month, year after year, the same messages are repeated, the same arguments are restated, the same claims, allegations and accusations are answered. It is important to acknowledge that subjecting Muslims to this public debating treadmill is a form of invisible, symbolic violence. When politicians and commentators act as authorities to define Islamophobia or race, or when commentators suddenly start passing our arguments off as their own, a clear message is sent to Australian Muslims: your voices, your lived experiences, your scholarship, your knowledge—none of it counts. This is peak whitesplaining. The sheer breadth and depth of experience and knowledge among Australian Muslims to lead discussions is obvious. And so, if this resource is able to offer anything, I hope at the minimum that it lays bare that it is high time we actively listen to Australian Muslims as we call again and again for a resetting of the terms of debate around race, Islamophobia and terrorism.

The bibliography is divided into the following categories:

Contents

  1. Note
  2. Christchurch, New Zealand
  3. Lindt Cafe, Sydney
  4. Parramatta, Sydney
  5. Bourke Street, Melbourne
  6. Islamophobia and Race
  7. Counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism
  8. Global war on terror
  9. Gendered Islamophobia/Sexuality
  10. Free speech debates
  11. Research Reports
  12. Academic Publications, Non-Fiction, Memoirs and Novels
    1. Academic
    2. Non-Fiction and Memoir
    3. Novels/Poetry Collection
  13. Stand Up Comedy
  14. Spoken Word Poetry
    1. Bankstown Poetry Slam

Note

This list is clearly not exhaustive and misses many voices for which I apologise. Nobody has been deliberately excluded from this resource. I compiled the resource via google searches and so I am sure there are people who should be included who I have missed. Please email me on randa.abdel-fattah@mq.edu.au to update the list.

To access the google doc with hyperlinks to all the citations visit: a copy of this page on Google Docs

Christchurch, New Zealand

Lindt Cafe, Sydney

Parramatta, Sydney

Bourke Street, Melbourne

Islamophobia and Race

Counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism

Global war on terror

Gendered Islamophobia/Sexuality

Free speech debates

Research Reports

Academic Publications, Non-Fiction, Memoirs and Novels

Academic

(Please note this is a small sample. Please submit missing citations.)

  • (2010) Rane, H. Ewart, J. & Abdalla, M. (eds.) Islam and the Australian News Media, Melbourne University Press, Carlton.

  • (2010) Samina Yasmeen (editor), Muslims In Australia: The Dynamics of Exclusion and Inclusion, MUP

Non-Fiction and Memoir

Novels/Poetry Collection

Stand Up Comedy

Spoken Word Poetry

Bankstown Poetry Slam

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Cite this page:
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah (2019) "Australian Muslim Voices on Islamophobia, race and the 'War on Terror' by Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah." Trust, Politics and Fear. <https://trustpoliticsfear.github.io/bibliography/>