ASAMST 132AC · University of California, Berkeley · Spring 2026
This project examines how Islamophobia functions as a structural force in the United Kingdom, tracing its legal, political, economic, and social dimensions through evidence from legislation, political campaigns, media, and counter-movements.
Section 1
The United Kingdom (UK) is a northwestern European country. It is composed of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.[20] Its political system is a constitutional monarchy, but it effectively relies on its parliament for legislature. The UK's population is approximately 70 million people currently.[11] As a historical imperial power during the Industrial Revolution, the UK shaped migration from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, among many other diverse peoples from many countries. Today, the UK is highly diverse both ethnically and religiously due to this fact. Christianity has historically been dominant however. The 2021 Census recorded Christians at 46.2%, people with no religion at 37.2%, and Muslims at 6.5%.[12] The UK is critical for studying Islamophobia, because Muslims commonly face political scapegoating, economic discrimination, stereotyping, and unjust surveillance by the government.
Section 2
Anti-Muslim politics in the UK is no longer hidden or masked. It has gone fully mainstream. This matches what J. Mark Hakstead calls Political Islamophobia, where politicians "play on Islamophobic attitudes to increase their popularity."[7] The clearest example is Reform UK's Nigel Farage, who keeps reusing the "fifth column" trope we covered in class. Back in 2015 he claimed some Muslims "want to become a fifth column and kill us," and he has not stopped since.[10] In March 2026, he attacked a Trafalgar Square iftar as an "attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life."[21] Reform is now polling first nationally at 24%.[9] Outside Parliament, far-right activist Tommy Robinson plays a similar role. His real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, and his September 2025 Unite the Kingdom march pulled in over 100,000 people.[22] This is exactly Bazian's point that Islamophobia works as a "structural organizing tool" for power.[5]
Section 3
British media has a long history of speaking for Muslims instead of letting them speak for themselves. This is essentially what Said calls "representation" in Orientalism.[15] Right-wing tabloids regularly frame Muslims as a security threat, but social media has made it much worse. When researching and finding out about the Southport stabbings in July 2024, false claims that the attacker was a Muslim asylum-seeker hit 27 million views on X within 24 hours, which kicked off riots that targeted mosques across the country.[8] Tommy Robinson's posts alone got 580 million views in two weeks. Another contributor outside the UK was Elon Musk, who himself amplified the disinformation, even telling PM Keir Starmer "civil war is inevitable."[8] It is essentially "Manufacturing Consent" happening live, a 2024 version of Jack Shaheen's Reel Bad Arabs where the algorithm picks who looks like a villain. Said's point still holds, in which the people being represented never get to do the representing.
Section 4
Legal Islamophobia in the UK is manifested through the "hostile environment" policy and the government's refusal to adopt a statutory definition of Islamophobia. Although the UK is not banning the veil like France, it has enacted the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the Safety of Rwanda Act. The two Acts create a legal hierarchy of citizens which have had negative impacts on peoples of the nationalities specified above who came to the UK as asylum seekers. In other words, those Acts mean that, for the benefit of Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, a citizen's status can be stripped and even irregular entry into the UK could lead to punishment in jail.[1] One can finally speak about the legal dimension of the APPG's lack of an official definition of Islamophobia, since Muslims tend to be viewed in employment and law enforcement through a lens of bias that could be labelled as religious discrimination.[2]
Section 5
In terms of economic issues faced by British Muslims one can mention "de-banking" and the "Muslim pay gap." Banks with the biggest clients in the UK (like HSBC or Barclays) have for more than a decade been closing accounts belonging to the most prominent Muslim individuals or organizations without any explanation, typically because of their "risk appetite" regarding counter-terrorism regulations. Related to the issue of economic restriction one could list the issue of loans granted to Muslims; businessmen from this community often undergo stronger scrutiny and less chances to obtain an Islamic compliant loan from traditional banks. Studies performed by the MCB reveal Muslims having the lowest employment rates and pay among any religious group in the UK.[6] CV's for example show the fact that names of the type "Muslim-like" give less opportunities for being called for an interview compared to the same application carrying similar qualifications for a vacancy.[4]
Section 6
The main state weapon for surveillance is called Prevent duty and it is part of the counter-terrorism strategy implemented in the UK. As of 2015 it has become legally required for teachers, doctors and social workers to detect signs of "radicalisation," a hazy term whose consequence has been the overreporting of Muslim youngsters, merely because of their display of orthodox religious views.[3] This weapon is also used together with Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 that allows police to stop, question and search individuals at UK borders, airports and sea ports "without a reasonable suspicion" they commit a crime. Data has confirmed that the police has applied this law for Muslims too at ports, this is how international traveling has turned into an always interrogative experience for Muslims traveling in the UK and has formed a 'suspect community' and emergency regulation relationship.
Section 7
There are several UK organizations pushing back against Islamophobia in different ways. The Runnymede Trust is Britain's biggest race equality think tank. They coined the word "Islamophobia" in their 1997 report, and in 2024 they redefined it as "the intensification of racism against Muslim communities."[14] Tell MAMA, which stands for Measuring Anti Muslim Attacks, tracks hate crimes and supports victims. MEND, or Muslim Engagement and Development, started Islamophobia Awareness Month in 2012 and just put out a 2025 briefing exposing how Reform UK is mainstreaming anti Muslim rhetoric.[10] Hope Not Hate runs undercover investigations into far and extreme right groups and publishes a yearly State of Hate report. The All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims wrote the 2018 definition that calls Islamophobia "a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness."[2] All these groups are doing what Omi and Winant would call a counter "racial project," which means challenging the dominant narrative and pushing for actual change.[13]
Section 8
There are, however, real wins. For example, during the 2024 riots, Stand Up to Racism organized counter demonstrations that outnumbered the fascist marches in places like Walthamstow and Liverpool, and over 1,800 rioters were eventually arrested.[19] Going back to 2017, after an EDL march, Birmingham Central Mosque hosted a tea party that drew more people than the actual demonstration. Sadiq Khan, London's first Muslim mayor, won his third term in 2024 even though the Conservative campaign against him was openly Islamophobic. The APPG's definition has been adopted by over 750 Muslim organizations and several political parties. The Labour government in 2025 and 2026 finally started moving toward an official Islamophobia definition. This, in turn, supports Omi and Winant's point that racial projects aren't fixed and can be challenged. Islamophobia in the UK isn't permanent. It's a structure people are actively trying to dismantle.
Section 9