PUBLICATION

A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe

By IRR News Team

At the heart of this book is an examination of xeno-racism - a non-colour coded form of institutionalised racism - where migrants who do not assimilate, or who are believed to be incapable of assimilation, are excluded.

'A Suitable Enemy', by the IRR's Executive Director Liz Fekete, draws on sixteen years of research to present a comprehensive overview of EU immigration, asylum, race and security policies.

At the same time as the EU introduces selective migration policies, it closes its borders against asylum seekers who were the first victims of the growth of the security state which now embraces Muslims. Liz Fekete explores the way in which anti-terrorist legislation has been used to evict undesirable migrants, how deportation policies commodify and de-humanise the most vulnerable and how these go hand in hand with evolving forms of racism, particularly Islamophobia.

Contents include:

Acknowledgements
Foreword by A. Sivanandan
Introduction
The Emergence of Xeno-racism
Anti-Muslim Racism and the Security State
Enlightened Fundamentalism? Immigration, Feminism and the Right
The New McCarthyism
The Deportation Machine
'Speech Crime' and Deportation
They Are Children Too
Islamophobia, Youth Resistance and the Meaning of Liberty

'Liz Fekete's book is important and timely. The author is addressing crucial issues helping the readers to understand how new kinds of racism, exclusion and power struggles are at work. Liz Fekete shows us how the far right discourses and policies are being more and more normalised, especially when it come to stigmatising Muslims. She reveals the many dangers facing the European societies : this book is a wake up call for all the citizens with a sense of dignity and justice.' Professor Tariq Ramadan Senior Research Fellow, Oxford St Antony's College.

'A Suitable Enemy shows how the extreme right captured the political initiative by portraying immigrants and asylum seekers as a threat to European security, identity and prosperity; and how once lunatic-fringe ideas became a new conventional wisdom, propagated by mainstream politicians and media, and inscribed in immigration and security laws. Building on many years of research on racism throughout Europe, Liz Fekete presents an important analysis that should be used by anyone concerned about the real threats to human rights and democracy today.' Stephen Castles, International Migration Institute, University of Oxford.

'This book deserves a slow and careful reading ... [It is] a primer of unparalleled utility.' Gareth Peirce, civil rights lawyer.

Liz Fekete is Executive Director of the Institute of Race Relations and has written and lectured widely on issues of migration, race and security in Europe. She edits the IRR European Race Bulletin. She is a consultant on refugee and immigration issues to a number of organisations, and was an expert witness at the Basso Permanent Peoples' Tribunal and the World Tribunal on Iraq.

Published in April 2009 by Pluto Press. ISBN 978 0 7453 2792 1. Pages 260. £17.99. Available for a short time only at a reduced price of £15 (including UK P&P) to IRR News Service readers, see link below for special offer.

The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

A Suitable Enemy: Racism, Migration and Islamophobia in Europe

By IRR News Team

At the heart of this book is an examination of xeno-racism - a non-colour coded form of institutionalised racism - where migrants who do not assimilate, or who are believed to be incapable of assimilation, are excluded.

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