European Others: Queering Ethnicity in Postnational Europe (Difference Incorporated)

Description

European Others offers an interrogation into the position of racialized communities in the European Union, arguing that the tension between a growing nonwhite, non-Christian population and insistent essentialist definitions of Europeanness produces new forms of identity and activism. Moving beyond disciplinary and national limits, Fatima El-Tayeb explores structures of resistance, tracing a Europeanization from below in which migrant and minority communities challenge the ideology of racelessness that places them firmly outside the community of citizens. Using a notable variety of sources, from drag performances to feminist Muslim activism and Euro hip-hop, El-Tayeb draws on the largely ignored archive of vernacular culture central to resistance by minority youths to the exclusionary nationalism that casts them as threatening outcasts. At the same time, she reveals the continued effect of Europe’s suppressed colonial history on the representation of Muslim minorities as the illiberal Other of progressive Europe. Presenting a sharp analysis of the challenges facing a united Europe seen by many as a model for twenty-first-century postnational societies, El-Tayeb combines theoretical influences from both sides of the Atlantic to lay bare how Europeans of color are integral to the continent’s past, present, and, inevitably, its future. Review: All you wanted to know about Europe but were never given the depth to understand... - Brilliant book and an important and timely intervention in the narratives around Islam and Europe. A must read. Sheds light on the paradox of racism and color blindness that Europe has become to signify. Using material as diverse as pop culture, literature, music, and film, the book provides a much needed context for activism by feminists of color in Europe. Review: Four Stars - Good