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Anti-Terrorist Laws and the United Kingdom's 'Suspect Muslim Community': A Reply to Pantazis and Pemberton

NCJ Number
232993
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 50 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2010 Pages: 1171-1190
Author(s)
Steven Greer
Date Published
November 2010
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This article argues that the 'Muslim suspect community' thesis claimed by Pantazis and Pemberton in 2009 following antiterrorist laws passed in the United Kingdom is ill-founded.
Abstract
In an article in recent issue of this journal, Pantazis and Pemberton claim that antiterrorist laws passed in the United Kingdom in the context of a post 9/11 official political discourse have turned Muslims into a 'suspect community' (Pantazis and Pemberton 2009). Regrettably, this thesis is built on a series of analytical, methodological, conceptual, logical, empirical, evidential, and interpretive errors. There is no evidence to support it and a great deal that points in the opposite direction. This reply argues that the 'suspect community' thesis should, therefore, be rejected by social science, public policy, and progressive politics in favor of a much more nuanced, multidimensional, accurate, productive account of the relationship between Muslims and the United Kingdom's antiterrorist laws. (Published Abstract) References

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