ABSTRACT
We write this introduction in the grim aftermath of the Oslo massacres of 22 July 2011 in which 77 people died. Most of the victims were members of the youth wing of the Norwegian Labour Party, a party with a history of support for multiculturalism and religious tolerance, and early media speculation suggests that Anders Behring Breivik, who has admitted carrying out the bombing and shootings, believed he was part of a violent crusade against Islam, a shock trooper in the clash of civilizations. His lawyer has suggested that he is probably insane, a remark endorsed by some media and political commentators. Whether or not such a diagnosis is con¿rmed through legal process, it is important to recognize that by constructing the perpetrator as a deranged monster, one who had lost all sense of moral proportion or attachment to reality, we evade some complicated questions. These concern the rise of new racial politics in the contemporary West, speci¿cally Islamophobia, that attacks the liberal democratic state and calls into question its ability to manage globalization, immigration and cultural difference. The contributions to this book address precisely these questions around what we have called Global Islamophobia. The Oslo massacre shows the clear imprint of a revanchist nationalist politics that has gained popularity in many parts of the contemporary West and is expressed with varying degrees of fanaticism. Far from being completely random and aberrant, the slaughter was very much grounded in a particular conjuncture framed by acute social and cultural tensions. While rightwing political organizations have scurried to denounce Breivik and the murders for which he has claimed responsibility, it is clear that he drew on their (tortured) political logic to rationalize his actions.
