Islamophobia(s): North African Perspectives
Islamophobie(s). Perspectives maghrébines
Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Abstract
The concept of Islamophobia is widely used in studies on racism, discrimination, and security policies in Europe, it remains more prevalent in Anglophone scholarship than in Francophone academic debates. the concept has received little attention in the Maghreb (North Africa), despite the region’s close and multifaceted historical, political, and social connections to the phenomenon. We invite researchers to engage with the concept of Islamophobia, as well as with related notions (such as hatred, hostility, discrimination, or racism directed against Muslims, Islam, Arabs, or North Africans), from one or more Maghrebi perspectives, in order to discuss the term’s scholarly relevance.
Announcement
Argument
The concept of Islamophobia is more than a century old and has gained increasing institutional recognition in both governmental and academic contexts since the publication of the Runnymede Trust report in the United Kingdom (Conway, 1997). It is now recognized by various international organizations based in Europe (such as the Council of Europe and UNESCO), invoked by several national institutions (such as the Law Commission of the French National Assembly, the Swiss Federal Commission against Racism, or the British House of Commons3), and has even entered major dictionaries (such as Collins, the OED, Larousse, and the Diccionario de la lengua española).
While the term is widely used in studies on racism, discrimination, and security policies in Europe, it remains more prevalent in Anglophone scholarship than in Francophone academic debates. Moreover, although research on Islamophobia has increased in Francophone contexts over the past two decades—notably since the publication of La nouvelle islamophobie in 2003—the concept has received little attention in the Maghreb (North Africa), despite the region’s close and multifaceted historical, political, and social connections to the phenomenon.
This international conference seeks to address both gaps by bringing together an interdisciplinary and international community of social scientists for a meeting in Tunis. The conference aims to highlight research engaging with the concept of Islamophobia, as well as with related notions (such as hatred, hostility, discrimination, or racism directed against Muslims, Islam, Arabs, or North Africans), from one or more Maghrebi perspectives, in order to discuss the term’s scholarly relevance, possible specificities, origins, contexts of use, and interrelations. To this end, the conference proposes to take as both a starting point and a transversal object of discussion the definition offered by Abdellali Hajjat and Marwan Mohammed in their major work on the subject (2013, p. 20) :
“Islamophobia corresponds to the complex social process of racialization/othering, based on the marker of (real or perceived) affiliation with the Muslim religion, whose modalities vary depending on national contexts and historical periods. It is a global and ‘gendered’ phenomenon, as it is influenced by the international circulation of ideas and people, as well as by gender relations.”
Following this definition, the international conference invites contributions from researchers working on different historical periods (colonial or postcolonial), on various national contexts (Maghrebi or European countries), and on multiple forms of international circulation (of concepts, discourses, policies, institutional practices, or people). It particularly welcomes work examining how Islamophobia is shaped by and articulated through different social relations (race, gender, as well as class, nationality, age, sexuality, etc.). Paper proposals may be individual or collective and may be based on empirical material from the Maghreb, from Europe, or from both regions.
The conference invites submissions that correspond to one or more of the following themes :
- A Social History of the Concept of Islamophobia in the Maghreb
- Colonial Genealogies of Islamophobia in the Maghreb and Beyond
- The Postcolonial Circulation of Islamophobic Ideas between the Maghreb and Europe
- The Effects of Contemporary Islamophobia on the Movement of People to/from the Maghreb
- (Fighting) Islamophobia in Europe : A Postcolonial Maghrebi Perspective
- Islamophobia : A Useful Concept for Studying the Maghreb ?
Theme One / A Social History of the Concept of Islamophobia in the Maghreb
The few studies on the history of the concept (Allen, 2006 ; Bravo Lopez, 2010) show that the term “Islamophobia” first appeared in 1910 in the writings of French colonial administrators in French West Africa. It was then used by Orientalists in Algeria (Dinet and Ben Ibrahim, 1918, 1921, 1930) within the framework of an “Orientalist critique of Orientalism” (Hajjat and Mohammed, 2013), as a synonym for “Arabophobia,” and by colonial scholars teaching at the Faculty of Letters in Algiers (Bernard, 1927, p. 115), as an antonym for “Islamophilia.” After decolonization, it notably reappeared in the writings of the Tunisian historian and Islamic studies scholar Hichem Djaït (1978, p. 60), who argued that “Islamophobia” had given way to “Arabophobia” in 1970s France.
The (post)colonial history of the invention and emergence of the concept in the 20th century still largely remains to be written. How did it circulate among French colonial spaces, or between the colonies and the metropole ? How was it transmitted from French colonial administrators to Muslim scholars such as Sliman Ben Ibrahim, and from colonial to postcolonial intellectuals ? Were these parallel or interconnected usages ? Can we identify other uses of the concept linked to the colonial Maghreb or formulated in the region after independence ? What meanings were ascribed to the term in different contexts, what was their legacy, and how have they evolved ?
This thematic axis also invites more contemporary studies of debates in the Maghreb, or among intellectuals of Maghrebi origin, concerning the concept of Islamophobia since its rise and internationalization at the end of the 1990s. What impact, in this regard, did the 1997 British Runnymede Trust report—which analyzed Islamophobia in Britain—have on these discussions ? How can we explain the marginal position the concept currently occupies in scholarly production in the Maghreb ? What research has been undertaken in the Maghreb that employs this concept—whether centrally (Kabel, 2014) or more peripherally (Mezrioui, 2020), in Arabic or in other languages ? What about outside academia ? Through which intermediaries does the concept circulate ? Who uses it, and what do they mean by it ? Who criticizes it, and why do they prefer other terms ? Finally, what translations of the concept into Arabic (rihāb al-ʾislām, fūbyā al-ʾislām, ʾislāmūfūbyā, etc.) exist, and what debates surround these translations ?
Theme Two / Colonial Genealogies of Islamophobia in the Maghreb and Beyond
The second axis explores how the French colonization of the Maghreb both shaped and was shaped by Islamophobia and/or the racialization of Islam. It invites contributions that examine French colonial policies of supervision, management, and instrumentalization of Islam and, more broadly, of indigenous populations—particularly in Algeria (1830–1962), Tunisia (1881–1956), Mauritania (1903– 1960), and Morocco (1912–1956). What kinds of policies were relevant to the shaping of Islam as an object of governance, which actors played a major role, and how was religion mobilized to control Muslim populations in Europe and North Africa ? The concept of Islamophobia may shed light in particular on the policies related to the invention and construction of the Muslim cult in “French North Africa” as well as in the metropole (Achi, 2005 ; Davidson, 2014 ; Saaidia, 2015), in relation to other emic notions (anti-Muslim or anti-Arab racism, Arabophobia, etc.). This axis also addresses the colonial treatment of conversion from Islam to Christianity—practices that could provoke suspicion and confusion among the authorities and be perceived as a “subversion of the established colonial order,” reflecting a racialization of religion (Galonnier, 2017, p. 172 ; Willems, 2023).
This axis also invites contributions from an intellectual-history perspective, examining the colonial construction of an “anti-Muslim archive,” that is, “the symbolic repertoire of negative representations of Islam and Muslims” (Hajjat and Mohammed, 2013), at the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century. Contributions may, in particular, adopt a comparative approach to Islamophobic and anti-Semitic ideas (Hafez, 2016) and address the following questions : Does the “antiMuslim archive” overlap with or draw on the anti-Semitic archive ? Do anti-Semitic texts similarly depict Muslims in a negative light—and vice versa ? From the Maghreb, can we identify a “zone of intersection” between the racialization of Jews and that of Muslims (Zia-Ebrahimi, 2021) ? More broadly, the production of colonial representations of Islam in the Maghreb may be analyzed through orientalist thought (Said, 1978), economic thought (Davis, 2022), academic, political, and literary thought in the metropole (Le Cour Grandmaison, 2019 ; Fadil, 2019), ecclesiastical thought (particularly that of Christian authorities in the Maghreb), as well as medical and psychiatric discourses. Special attention may be given to the ways in which these modes of thought circulated between the metropole and the protectorates and colonies.
Theme Three / The Postcolonial Circulation of Islamophobic Ideas between the Maghreb and Europe
The third theme examines the postcolonial circulation of Islamophobic ideas between the Maghreb and Europe, as well as the reappropriations and renewals of the “anti-Muslim archive.” It seeks to understand how colonial representations persisted after independence, as well as their transformations, by examining specific discourses, actors, and practices. It also aims to shed light on the role played by public institutions and politico-administrative, religious, and intellectual elites on both sides of the Mediterranean.
Contributions may address the trajectories and transformations of the ideas and practices that underpinned the French colonial administration. How did colonial elites returning to the metropole contribute to the diffusion of Islamophobic frameworks in France and in Europe ? Contributions may explore the circulation not only of administrators and colonial offices, but also of missionaries and religious writings, as well as intellectuals and academic works.
This axis also examines those who contribute to Islamophobic discourses in the Maghreb and Europe, exploring what Hajjat and Mohammed (2013) term “Islamophobia of the pen.” For example, contributions may analyze the roles of Maghrebi elites educated in Europe, religious or atheist minorities in the Maghreb, and European expatriates in the production, reproduction, and circulation of Islamophobic ideas. What are the geographical and social trajectories of these actors ? What are their religious affiliations and commitments ? To what ends do they use their Islamophobic positions ? How do these stances influence their social standing (class distinction, financial and/or symbolic rewards, professional exclusion, etc.), and how are they received in Europe (media overexposure, various forms of recognition, racial division of labor, “insider” expertise, etc.) ? In this regard, the conference is interested in exploring how Islamophobic discourses offer a veneer of “white respectability” (Dazey, 2021) in the postcolonial period, and in exploring the co-construction of Islamophobic ideas between actors with diverse origins, trajectories, and interests.
Rather than a narrow focus on the propagation of Islamophobia, the conference also welcomes contributions that examine movements claiming to pursue emancipation. For instance, papers may explore the circulation and reception of feminist critiques of religion’s role in reproducing patriarchy, or secularist critiques of political Islam. Similarly, the role of liberal Maghrebi intellectuals in articulating critiques of forms of religiosity perceived as “populist” is another line of inquiry. Without simplistically labeling all critiques of Islam in the Maghreb as Islamophobic, the conference seeks to understand how such critiques may have been reinterpreted or instrumentalized in other contexts. This also includes reflections on the biographical consequences of violence linked to (revolutionary) political Islam, and on the instrumentalization of traumatic Maghrebi experiences by European Islamophobic actors—such as the Civil War in Algeria.
Theme Four / The Effects of Contemporary Islamophobia on the Movement of People to and from the Maghreb
The fourth theme invites contributions that examine the effects of Islamophobic discourses, practices, and policies on the migratory trajectories and international mobility of populations from the Maghreb, while remaining attentive to the hybrid and multiple motivations behind departures.
Following the investigation into the French Muslim diaspora (Esteves, Picard, and Talpin, 2024), this theme aims to discuss the hypothesis of a correlation—and potentially a causal link—between the intensity of Islamophobia in a given country and the intensity of departures from that country abroad. Contributions may focus on the migratory movements of Muslims from the Global North toward the Maghreb, North–North international movements of Muslim populations of Maghrebi origin, or comparative analyses of migratory trajectories involving the Maghreb in one way or another.
This theme also welcomes contributions that explore how Islamophobia may shape the migratory trajectories of those leaving the Maghreb. To what extent do concerns about discrimination, insults, and identity-based ascriptions influence the “choice” of destination, or even the decision to migrate at all ? Are increasingly popular destinations such as Canada perceived as an escape from Islamophobia and, more broadly, from racism ? Conversely, do earlier destinations for Maghrebi emigration, such as the Gulf countries, attract renewed interest for similar reasons ? How do those who remain in the Maghreb perceive their compatriots’ and relatives’ countries of emigration, particularly in light of the degree of Islamophobia that prevails there ?
Contributors are encouraged to examine how social relations—especially those of nationality, race, gender, and class—intersect in order to show the variations observable in the lived experiences of Islamophobia in France and Europe, as well as in the perceptions of France and Europe among those living in the Maghreb.
Theme Five / (Fighting) Islamophobia in Europe : A Postcolonial Maghrebi Perspective
The fifth theme interrogates the specificity of Islamophobia as a lived experience for Maghrebi individuals and their descendants in Europe. It asks whether people of postcolonial North African descent are affected by particular forms or intensities of Islamophobia compared to other (presumed) Muslim populations. Is Islamophobia in Francophone Europe especially shaped by and directed toward these populations ? Are Muslim individuals who are not from the Maghreb or of Maghrebi descent subjected to distinct forms or degrees of Islamophobia ? Do the “pedagogies of coloniality” (Kebaïli and Lépinard, 2025), for instance, operate on postcolonial subjects and other groups in similar ways ?
This theme also seeks to understand whether Islamophobia in non-Francophone European contexts—where Muslim populations are not necessarily of Maghrebi descent—displays different characteristics, modes of application, or spheres of deployment. Conversely, does Islamophobia in Francophone Europe exhibit a specificity tied to the history of postcolonial immigration from the Maghreb ?
This theme thus welcomes research that examines the forms and dynamics of Islamophobia that affect populations from the Maghreb or of Maghrebi descent in Europe, as well as studies focusing on other Muslim populations. Contributions may be based on original research—comparative or not—or on critical re-readings of existing studies of Islamophobia in Europe, assessing in particular the place and potential specificity of descendants of Maghrebi immigrants within this scholarship.
Contributors are also invited to reflect on the role played by North African immigrants in the struggle against Islamophobia in Europe. This includes the mobilization of Maghrebi-descendant actors within organizations explicitly devoted to combating Islamophobia—such as the Collectif contre l’islamophobie en France (CCIF), the Collectif contre l’islamophobie en Europe (CCIE), or the Coordination contre le racisme et l’islamophobie (CRI)—as well as within more general organizations (Geisser and Seniguer, 2022). Beyond their organizational positions, contributions may analyze these actors’ socio-demographic profiles, personal, family, and activist trajectories, forms of politicization, or repertoires of collective action. At the same time, approaches grounded in intellectual history or political theory could shed light on works published on systemic racism by Maghrebi intellectuals (scholars and/or activists), their conceptual contributions, and their role within these organizations. Lastly, contributions may also reflect on the role taken by Maghrebi states in promoting and publicizing research on Islamophobia and initiatives to contest it in Europe.
Theme Six / Islamophobia : A Useful Concept for Studying the Maghreb ?
The final thematic axis focuses on the transposability of Islamophobia studies to the Maghreb. While some works have begun to mobilize the concept for the study of majority-Muslim societies— speaking of “paradoxical Islamophobia” and “internalized Islamophobia” (Bayraklı and Hafez, 2019)— they have so far paid little attention to North Africa, apart from Egypt. This theme therefore invites contributors to explore the relevance and implications of using the concept of Islamophobia to analyze public policies and societies in the Maghreb.
In Francophone Europe, Islam has been framed around the “Muslim problem” since the early 1980s (Deltombe, 2005 ; Hajjat and Mohammed, 2013). Initially constructed as a problem of integration and later as a matter of security, Islam has been the object of public policies, professional practices, and media and discursive treatments—all of which constitute possible objects of study. But what about the Maghreb ? Is Islam constructed as a public problem in the same way ? According to what logics has the state’s apprehension of religion evolved—from efforts to build secular nation-states after decolonization, to the repression or co-optation of movements claiming political Islam in the 1990s and 2000s (Ben Salem, 2013 ; Dupuy-Lorvin, 2020 ; Hmimnat, 2020 ; Zederman, 2024) ? Can we observe forms of criminalization of religion, for instance through bans on the veil and the persecution of women who wear it (Ben Salem, 2010) ? Conversely, how can we understand the promotion of forms of religiosity presented as more local, acceptable, or profitable—such as Sufism (Werenfels, 2014) ? To what extent can we observe “politics of suspicion” (d’Halluin-Mabillot, 2012 ; El Feki, 2023 ; Karimi, 2023) directed toward Islam in the Maghreb ?
It is well known that the “fight against terrorism” in the Maghreb (Alzubairi, 2022) has been particularly directed against local organizations espousing political Islam (Wolf, 2017 ; Arezki, 2019). This struggle has also served as a justification for the repression of political opponents by ruling powers. Yet it is not Islam as such that seems to be constructed as a public problem in the Maghreb ; rather, certain religious forms appear to escape the “nationalization of Islam” initiated by political leaders after independence (Webb, 2013). What are the functions and effects of “state control over mosques” (Donker, 2018) in the Maghreb ? What relations or circulations can be observed between the forms this control takes in the Maghreb and in Europe ? To what extent do such mechanisms of control construct “proper ways” of being Muslim (Zederman, 2020 ; Dazey, 2024) ? Do the forms of repression and politicization of religion in the Maghreb fit within the broader phenomenon of “global Islamophobia” discussed in several recent English-language publications (Bakali and Hafez, 2022 ; Aziz and Esposito, 2024) ?
These questions may be explored through national, transnational, or comparative studies conducted in the Maghreb on security policies (“counterterrorism,” “radicalization,” “the fight against Islamism,” “law and order,” etc.), religious policies, as well as educational and family policies. They may also be approached through inquiries into the control of women’s bodies, the uses of secularism, the political or activist engagements of Muslims (whether or not in the name of faith), and beyond.
Submission guidelines
- 1 December 2025 : Deadline for submission of paper proposals to conference-islamophobia-tunis@protonmail.com
- 15 December 2025 : Authors of accepted papers notified
- 20 May 2026 : Submission of the written texts of presentations (20 minutes)
Organizers
- Iman EL FEKI, SAGE, CNRS/University of Strasbourg, elfekiiman@gmail.com
- Adrien THIBAULT, IRMC Tunis, CNRS/MEAE, adrien.thibault@irmcmaghreb.org
Scientific Committee
- Maryam BEN SALEM, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Carthage – Tunisia
- Jocelyne DAKHLIA, Emeritus Director of Studies in History and Anthropology, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) – France
- Muriam Haleh DAVIS, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz – USA
- Margot DAZEY, Research Fellow in Sociology, CNRS – France
- Hamza ESMILI, F.R.S–FNRS Research Fellow in Anthropology, Université libre de Bruxelles – Belgium
- Abdellali HAJJAT, Associate Professor of Sociology, Université libre de Bruxelles – Belgium
- Iman EL FEKI, PhD Candidate in sociology, University of Strasbourg – France
- Vincent GEISSER, Research Fellow in Political Science, CNRS – France
- Ahmed KABEL, Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Al Akhawayn University – Morocco
- Hanane KARIMI, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Strasbourg – France
- Selima KEBAÏLI, Assistant Professor of Gender Studies, University of Geneva – Switzerland
- Khalil KHALSI, Affiliated Researcher in Literary and Cultural Studies, ATTC Laboratory, Manouba University – Tunisia
- Augustin JOMIER, Associate Professor of Contemporary History, INALCO ; on secondment from CNRS to the IRMC, Tunis – France/Tunisia
- Alain MESSAOUDI, Associate Professor in of Contemporary History, University of Nantes – France
- M’hamed OUALDI, Professor of Contemporary History, European University Institute – Italy
- Arbia SELMI, PhD in Sociology, EHESS ; Affiliated Researcher, Centre Maurice Halbwachs – France
- Thomas SERRES, Associate Professor of Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz – USA
- Adrien THIBAULT, MEAE Research Fellow in Sociology and Political Science, IRMC – Tunisia
- Mathilde ZEDERMAN, Associate Professor of Political Science, Paris Nanterre University – France
- Reza ZIA-EBRAHIMI, Reader in History, King’s College London – UK
Subjects
Places
- Tunis, Tunisia
Event attendance modalities
Full on-site event
Date(s)
- Monday, December 01, 2025
Attached files
Keywords
- islamophobie, racisme, haine, hostilité, discrimination, antimusulman, anti-magréhin, anti-arabe, maghreb, afrique du nord, nord-africain
Contact(s)
- Adrien Thibault
courriel : conference-islamophobia-tunis [at] protonmail [dot] com - Iman El Feki
courriel : conference-islamophobia-tunis [at] protonmail [dot] com
Information source
- Iman El Feki
courriel : conference-islamophobia-tunis [at] protonmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons - Attribution 4.0 International - CC BY 4.0 .
To cite this announcement
Adrien Thibault, « Islamophobia(s): North African Perspectives », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, https://doi.org/10.58079/1500h
