Islamophobia and Its Social Effects - Essay Example

In developing counties the differentiation in behavior towards minorities tends to be of low level (usually there are no interests under threat; the high percentage of the population is of a low income surviving under difficult living conditions). On the contrary, in developed countries, the differentiation among people in accordance with specific racial, cultural or physical characteristics tend to be intense. In this context, the so-called ‘Islamophobia’ and its overall aspects in Britain is going to be analytically examined using a series of studies that refer to the particular issue.

The study of Haddad (2002, 32) showed that ‘Islamophobia in Britain has not actually increased in the past decade but instead, we have merely witnessed a growing public scrutiny of it; t is possible to interpret the rise in Islamophobia in Britain alongside advances in Muslim recognition through a kind of linked or circular operation’. Islamophobia in Britain is a social phenomenon but its trends cannot be easily identified. The phenomenon of differentiation because of race and culture is not a new phenomenon in Europe.

On the other hand, the above phenomenon tends to appear at the same level in most European countries; it is not related to a particular member state. In this context, the study of Ahmed (2004, 124) showed that ‘the comparatively newly arrived Muslim minorities in Europe, whether they be in Britain, France or Germany, are themselves experiencing much of the same discrimination and many of the same difficulties faced by previous generations of Jewish immigrants’.