Islamophobic conspiracy theories

Abstract

A document that was allegedly composed in 1991 by a supposed high ranking Muslim Brotherhood member entitled An Explanatory Memorandum. On the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America became virulent in the last years. A group of right wing, neoconservative thinkers, which is spreading conspiracy theories through a well-financed and connected network of think tanks and online media corporations, made use of this «document”. According these actors, Muslims have already infiltrated the White House. They base is on an «analysis” of contemporary politics as well as on the aforementioned document. Based on this document, this article argues that Islamophobic discourses are not «only” culturalist and/or racist projects of exclusion of a construed underprivileged group of Muslims. Rather, this article argues that Islamophobic discourses do also reveal aspects of conspiracy theories where Muslims are imagined as superior as it was done in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.