LENIN'S TOMB

 

Saturday, June 10, 2006

Islamofascism, communalism, liberalism and Respect. posted by Richard Seymour

Respect's critics terrified of dusky folks:

Disturbingly, however, some elements on the left have been tempted down the same path — one that runs directly to New Labour. Blair demands that Muslims support the "British way of life", his media supporters embellish as appropriate, and, finally, we find the Socialist Party claiming that Respect "unconsciously further[s] the beginnings of polarisation based on racial division".

They even go so far as to dismiss Respect councillor Oliur Rahman's record as chair of his PCS union branch as irrelevant to "the political character of Respect." Oliur joined Respect via the anti-war movement in 2004 and has been a PCS member for the last six years. He says, "I joined Respect because it was attracting support from all over and it looked like it could make a real contribution. I'm a left wing socialist and a trade unionist who wants to fight for the working class, and Respect is the organisation that can do that. We don't just fight for one community."

It is as if, by being a Muslim, he cannot be on the left; or as if, by winning support from Muslims, Respect itself cannot be of the left.

...

Those who have joined Respect and stood for election come from a range of different backgrounds — among them are trade unionists, with members of Unison, the RMT and Amicus standing as candidates. Many are longstanding former Labour Party members like Shahed Ali, who was elected in Whitechapel.

Shahed left the Labour Party after 18 years membership, with the last straw being the decision to prevent local Labour members selecting their own council candidates. "I'm Old Labour," he says. "Obviously I'm upset with Blair's foreign policy but we thought we could fight in the Labour Party for better housing and against what New Labour was doing locally. But the space to do that has been made smaller and smaller. There's no scrutiny or ways of changing policy, so when they denied local members a voice in selecting council candidates, I left."

...

It is clear that east London is one of Respect's heartlands. However, the political break that it represents exists to some extent in every area of historic Labour support. Where Respect has stood well-rooted local candidates, and run convincing campaigns, it has been able to produce dramatic results. In the Bristol Lockleaze ward, Jerry Hicks, a prominent local trade unionist, came second for Respect, pushing Labour into third place. Some 86 percent of Lockleaze residents are white, and just 4 percent Muslim. Jerry is clear about where his support came from. "This is a predominantly white, working class area that until a few years ago was rock solid Labour — the sort of place you'd think the BNP might target. But we won support across the board, from traditional Labour voters and first time voters, young and old.

"In sharp contrast to the other parties, we offered the politics of hope and optimism. The rest were all Asbos and CCTVs. We said, Asbos are very expensive, and wouldn't the money be better spent on amenities? Once the argument was presented, it was easy to win people over."

...

Far from being the "Muslim dominated" areas of media myth, both Tower Hamlets and Newham have mixed populations. Around 36 percent of Tower Hamlet's population identified themselves as Muslim in the last census, and 40 percent as Christian. About 35 percent of the borough's residents are Bengali, not all of whom are Muslims. Over half the population described themselves as white, with the remainder being a mixture of Africans, African-Caribbeans, eastern Europeans, Chinese and others. In Newham, the diversity is even greater — 24 percent of residents described themselves as Muslim, while 48 percent professed to be Christians. About a third are "white British", while around a sixth are black African, Bangladeshi, and Indian respectively. It would be more accurate, if anything, to describe both boroughs as "white" or "Christian dominated", but of course this would not fit the stereotype.


Communalism, of course, is a word that is applied to dark-skinned people, particularly Muslims. Jerry Hicks isn't being accused of communalism for having stood in a largely white working class area and gleaning lots of white working class votes. There was a time when socialists were accused of being too nice to Jews, looking to them for a constituency, supporting them against anti-Jewish racism, and so on. But these complaints generally came from the right, not those who identified themselves as anti-racist liberals. There's a curious ideological inversion involved in the liberal witch-hunt against Respect, which involves the claim that to stand up for Muslims against a torrent of Islamophobia as part of an entirely orthodox socialist stance is the exact equivalent of making a racist pitch to white voters against black people and Muslims as part of a surreptitious fascist movement. This nauseating, morally bankrupt formula has been repeated in a few places. In reality it mimics the BNP's line that anyone who stands up against their disgusting racism is guilty of 'anti-white' or 'anti-British' racism. This is the line being retailed by today's pro-war liberals. The note of horror about riling up the 'brown masses' is unmistakeable. It is starkly evident in some of the media commentariat's fulminations about Respect in the East End, particularly after the shooting in Forest Gate. It is exudes pungently from the rhetorical energy of those for whom the juxtaposition of 'Islam' and 'fascist' comes naturally, automatically, yet who have considerable difficulty in conjugating the words 'Islam' and 'socialism'. The coercive, inoculative function of this discourse is also clear in the way that charges of Islamofascism, communalism etc are specifically directed at those Muslims who fail to live up to the ego-ideal of the secular liberal, whose support for capitalism and imperialism is implicit and taken as read.

8:35:00 am | Permalink | Comments thread | | Print | Digg | del.icio.us | reddit | StumbleUpon | diigo it Tweet| Share| Flattr this

Search via Google

Info

Richard Seymour

Richard Seymour's Wiki

Richard Seymour: information and contact

Richard Seymour's agent

RSS

Twitter

Tumblr

Pinterest

Academia

Storify

Donate

corbyn_9781784785314-max_221-32100507bd25b752de8c389f93cd0bb4

Against Austerity cover

Subscription options

Flattr this

Recent Comments

Powered by Disqus

Recent Posts

Subscribe to Lenin's Tomb
Email:

Lenosphere

Archives

September 2001

June 2003

July 2003

August 2003

September 2003

October 2003

November 2003

December 2003

January 2004

February 2004

March 2004

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

July 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

December 2015

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

April 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

Dossiers

Hurricane Katrina Dossier

Suicide Bombing Dossier

Iraqi Resistance Dossier

Haiti Dossier

Christopher Hitchens Dossier

Organic Intellectuals

Michael Rosen

Left Flank

Necessary Agitation

China Miéville

Je Est Un Autre

Verso

Doug Henwood

Michael Lavalette

Entschindet und Vergeht

The Mustard Seed

Solomon's Minefield

3arabawy

Sursock

Left Now

Le Poireau Rouge

Complex System of Pipes

Le Colonel Chabert [see archives]

K-Punk

Faithful to the Line

Jews Sans Frontieres

Institute for Conjunctural Research

The Proles

Infinite Thought

Critical Montages

A Gauche

Histologion

Wat Tyler

Ken McLeod

Unrepentant Marxist

John Molyneux

Rastî

Obsolete

Bureau of Counterpropaganda

Prisoner of Starvation

Kotaji

Through The Scary Door

Historical Materialism

1820

General, Your Tank is a Powerful Vehicle

Fruits of our Labour

Left I on the News

Organized Rage

Another Green World

Climate and Capitalism

The View From Steeltown

Long Sunday

Anti-dialectics

Empire Watch [archives]

Killing Time [archives]

Ob Fusc [archives]

Apostate Windbag [archives]

Alphonse [archives]

Dead Men Left [dead, man left]

Bat [archives]

Bionic Octopus [archives]

Keeping the Rabble in Line [archives]

Cliffism [archives]

Antiwar

Antiwar.com

Antiwar.blog

Osama Saeed

Dahr Jamail

Angry Arab

Desert Peace

Abu Aardvark

Juan Cole

Baghdad Burning

Collective Lounge

Iraqi Democrats Against the Occupation

Unfair Witness [archive]

Iraq Occupation & Resistance Report [archive]

Socialism

Socialist Workers Party

Socialist Aotearoa

Globalise Resistance

Red Pepper

Marxists

New Left Review

Socialist Review

Socialist Worker

World Socialist Website

Left Turn

Noam Chomsky

South Africa Keep Left

Monthly Review

Morning Star

Radical Philosophy

Blogger
blog comments powered by Disqus