SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF ISLAM IN THE WEST: THREE BRITISH STUDIES Mohammed Mahjoub Haroun Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social Psychology London School of Economics and Political Science University of London August 1997 1 UMI Number: U615408 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615408 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 THESES F 7 3 6 7 snyzy Abstract This study explores social representations of Islam in the West, with the empirical inquiry focused on Britain. Drawing on Said's critique of Orientalism, treated as a Western representation of Islam, the author establishes a clear distinction between Islam and its representations in the West. Said’s analysis of Orientalism is related, by the author, to Moscovici’s theory of social representations. Islam is dealt with in terms of cultural otherness. Culture, both as a dynamic and a heterogeneous social phenomenon, is reinstated, by reference back to Durkheim’s collective representations, as an integral component of Moscovici’s theory. The author investigates social representations of Islam in Britain by means of three empirical studies: (1) a participant observational study of the British security establishment in relation to interrogation by Scotland Yard of a suspect terrorist; (2) a content analysis of nine popular and quality national newspapers for the whole of 1989 in relation to the Rushdie Affair; and (3) group discussions involving members of the community at a University of London college. Representations of Islam are sought in (i) the interrogation; (ii) letters to the editors of various newspapers; and (iii) the discussion of groups considered as thinking societies in miniature. In accordance with the findings of the three empirical studies Islam is, largely, represented as a fundamentalist phenomenon. Aspects of culture such as individualism and secularism are instrumental in shaping Western representations of Islam. Results also indicate that the structure of representations of Islam persist even though the contents of those representations and the thinking societies which produce them keep changing. The media play a powerful role in generating representations of Islam. Power, like culture, also structures the social representations of Islam in the West. Culture requires the adoption of more appropriate methods of investigation, while power needs operationalisation. The study of social representations of cultural otherness remains virtually unexplored terrain. 2 To Hwaida for her unfailing support 3 List of Contents A b stract ................................................................................................ 2 Acknowledgements ..................................................................... Introduction ....................................................................................... ^2 SECTION ONE Chapter One ........................................................................................ 20 Social Representations of the Cultural Other 1.1. Rethinking Social Psychology............................................................ 21 1.2.1. Social Representations: Theory and beyond................................. 24 1.2.2. Social Representations and Culture ............................................ 32 1.2.3. Social Representations: Questions of identity and coherence ............. ^g 1.3. Mapping the Problem: Representations of Islam in Western knowledge 46- Chapter Two ........................................................................................ 51 Social Representations of Islam in the West: A historical perspective 2.1. The West: What and where?............................................................... 53 2.2. Islam: Religion, community and worldview ........................................ 55 2.2.1. Basics of a Religion .................................................................. 56 2.3. The Encounter between Islam and the Other ....................................... 58 2.4. Early Encounters between the West and Islam .................................... 59 2.4.1. Andalusia .................................................................................... 60 2.4.2. The Crusades ............................................................................. 62 2.4.3. Travellers ................................................................... 67 2.4.4. Orientalism .................................................................................. 69 2.5. Conclusion .......................................................................................... 74 4 Chapter Three ........................................................................... 75 Islamic Revivalism as Islamic Fundamentalism: Contemporary representations of Islam in the West 3.1. Western Representations of Islam from Past to Present ................... 76 3.1.1. Israel, the West, and the Muslim World ............................... 78 3.1.2. The Iranian Revolution, the Western Hostages and Western Representations of Islam .................................................... 79 3.1.3. The Salman Rushdie Affair ................................................ 81 3.2. Fundamentalism as a New Representational Pattern ....................... 84 3.3. Roots of Islamic Fundamentalism as a Representation .................... 86 3.4. Islamic Fundamentalism: Myth or reality? ................................... 89 3.5. Conclusion ................................................................................... 96 Chapter Four ............................................................................. 98 The Cultural Other: E. Said's Orientalism in the light of MoscovicVs theory of social representations 4.1. An Account of Said's Orientalism (1978) .................................... 100 4.2. In the Wake of Orientalism .................................................................. 104 4.3. Representing Orientalism ........................................................... 107 4.4. Questioning Objective Scholarship ............................................ 115 4.5. Representation, Knowledge and Power ....................................... 120 4.6. Conclusion ................................................................................... 123 SECTION TWO Chapter Five ............................................................................. 125 Shifting Paradigms: Methods of research in social psychology 5.1. From Descartes to Hegel ............................................................ 126 5.2. Social Representations and Social Psychological Research Methods ... 128 5.2.1. Experimental Method .......................................................... 131 5.2.2. Content Analysis of the Media ............................................ 132 5.2.3. Questionnaires ...................................................................... 134 5.2.4. Interviewing ......................................................................... 135 5.2.5. Participant Observation ........................................................ 136 5.2.6. Group Discussion 138 5.2.7. The Multi-Methods Approach .............................................. 139 5 5.3. Methodological Design: Theory and application.......................... 141 5.3.1. Methods and Procedure: Application .................................... 144 SECTION THREE Chapter Six ..................................................................................... 148 The Social Construction of a Terrorist: How Islam is represented by some members of the security forces in Britain 6.1. Some Methodological Issues ...................................................... 149 6.2. A Suspect Terrorist's Criminal Record ........................................ 153 6.3. A Historical Background: The wider frame of an Islamic Sudan ....... 157 6.4. ThsSiEpal, fePdteand tfeRq^Kxrtthn.................... 160 6.4.1. The Interrogation: Reading the text ...................................... 162 6.4.2. Beyond the Text: A representation's resistance to change......... 169 6.5. Conclusion ................................................................................... 173 Chapter Seven .......................................................................... 176 The Rushdie Affair: Overlapping representations of Islam in letters to editors of national newspapers 7.1. The Media and Social Representations ........................................ 177 7.2.The Western Press and Representations of Islam ............................ 179 7.3. The Rushdie Affair in the Press: Scope and sample ....................... 182 7.4. The Rushdie Affair in the Press: Procedures ................................. 184 7.5. The Rushdie Affair in the Press: Issues and salient arguments 189 7.6. The Rushdie Affair in the Press: Results and discussion .................. 198 7.6.1. Freedom of Expression in the Context of the Blasphemy Law 201 7.6.2. Freedom of Expression and Freedom