The Islamophobia Industry
This concise, accessible and illuminating book meets one of the most urgent needs of our time. Lean has provided a compelling counter-narrative that reveals the vested interests and highly organized networks of those who preach the virulent Islamophobia that is not only endangering world peace but is also corroding the tolerance and egalitarian ethos that should characterize Western society. This book should be required reading.
Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God, Islam: A Short History and Muhammad
Islamophobia is not only about ignorance and fear. Some people purposefully nurture it and use it as a political strategy. Nathan Leans The Islamophobia Industry shows what is happening behind the scenes. It is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the rationale and objectives behind those who foster this new racism against Muslims.
Tariq Ramadan, Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University and author of The Quest for Meaning and Islam: The Essentials
The climate of fear and cultural mistrust is one grim aspect of present-day society, but it doesnt happen by accident. As this readable and well-researched book demonstrates, hatred sells; it can provide both money and power to those who profit from it. This book exposes the dirty secrets of those who try to manipulate public opinion against Muslims. It should be read by policymakers, concerned citizens, and everyone who values truth and intercultural understanding.
Mark Juergensmeyer, Professor of Global Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Nathan Lean has written a book of immense importance for our times. By lifting the veil on the multi-million-dollar Islamophobia Industry, Lean shines a light on the nefarious network of business, political, and religious organizations and individuals who employ rank bigotry to promote their interests. A must-read.
Reza Aslan, author of No God But God and Beyond Fundamentalism
In this provocative and engaging book, Nathan Lean meticulously untangles the dense web of fear merchants who have made Muslim-bashing a cottage industry. He reveals the connections between them and the motives that animate their machine of propaganda. Leans is a battle against Islamophobia, one that he wages with a seamless and compelling narrative.
Juan Cole, author of Engaging the Muslim World
So many of Americas mistakes and bad acts over the past decade are due to Islamophobia, and Nathan Leans new book traces the phenomenons genesis and its culprits. Those who have been spawning this all-too-familiar demonization campaign have been hiding in the dark for too long. This book is so valuable because it drags them out into the light and thus performs a true service for the nation.
Glenn Greenwald, author of No Place to Hide and co-founder of The Intercept
In the months after 9/11, Americans took pride in defending Muslim neighbors in their own communities. Political leaders boasted about liberating Muslims overseas. So why are the politics of fear more intense a decade after the murders at the twin towers? Lean pins the blame on an Islamophobia industry in a lucid and detailed examination of the dark side of our politics.
Richard Wolffe, MSNBC political analyst and author of Renegade: The Making of a President
The spike in anti-Muslim sentiment didnt fall from the skyit was manufactured by a shadowy network of bloggers, funders, pundits, preachers and politicians. In a tightly written, fast-paced narrative that feels like a thriller backed by the research of a doctoral thesis, Lean shows just how deep the rabbit hole goes. Essential reading for anyone who wants a window into the origins of contemporary Islamophobia.
Eboo Patel, author of Acts of Faith and Sacred Ground
Leans meticulous study is a convincing demonstration of the threat Islamophobia poses to a pluralistic society and democratic values. Rationalizing hatred of Muslims, well-funded ideologues also negatively impact civic discourse and push conservative politics into the orbit of right-wing extremism. This is an important resource for all who wish to understand the forces that manipulate our political process and discourse.
Ingrid Mattson, Chair in Islamic Studies, Huron University College
Nathan Lean has written an eye-openerthe most comprehensive book to date on a new and dangerous cycle of minority persecution in American society. Leans book exposes the key players, funders and enablers of Islamophobia in America and the destructive effect of their politics on our national fabric. It is worth every minute of reading.
Nihad Awad, National Executive Director, Council on AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR)
Absolutely indispensable Any journalist, pundit, policy-maker or intelligence analyst who doesnt read The Islamophobia Industry and take its message to heart is committing professional malpractice. Any citizen concerned about the future of this country and the world at large owes it to themselves to read this book, lest the processes Lean describes poison relations between the West and the Muslim world for generations to come.
Mark LeVine, author of Heavy Metal Islam
The Islamophobia Industry is a clarion call. Its a necessary and timely work that carefully dissects and exposes a cottage industry of fear mongers who have deliberately manufactured hysteria and hate to divide Americans along religious and racial lines to promote their own self-profit and selfish, misguided politics.
Wajahat Ali, award-winning playwright and lead author of Fear Inc.: Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America
Nathan Leans The Islamophobia Industry could not be more timely or critical. This is an extraordinarily important and groundbreaking study. It exposes the multi-million-dollar cottage industry of fear mongers and the network of funders and organizations that support and perpetuate bigotry, xenophobia, racism, and produce a climate of fear that sustains a threatening social cancer.
John L. Esposito (from the Foreword to the first edition)
First published 2012; new edition published 2017 by Pluto Press
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright Nathan Lean 2012, 2017
The right of Nathan Lean to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978 0 7453 3717 3 Hardback
ISBN 978 0 7453 3716 6 Paperback
ISBN 978 1 7868 0135 7 PDF eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0137 1 Kindle eBook
ISBN 978 1 7868 0136 4 EPUB eBook
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin.
Typeset by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England
Simultaneously printed in the United Kingdom and United States of America
For Naima: my muse, my love, and my life.
