Embodying ambivalence: Muslim Australians as ‘other’

This article explores the ways in which Muslim Australians are attributed with 'otherness', and how such constructions are articulated in social practices. More precisely, it sketches out how contemporary social constructions of Muslim Australians, and their social expressions, constitute a means of restoring existential control among non-Muslim Australians post-September 11. Generic misrepresentations of Muslims throughout the western world can be identified within the current Australian milieu, where many Muslim Australians are treated as pariahs. In this social context, orientalist tropes are selectively played out in the representation of Muslims in media and public arenas, a process that has contributed significantly to 'Islamophobia'. However, the current Australian Islamophobic practices do not merely serve to perpetuate the constructions of Muslims as Other but are also prompted by the national concern for redressive action.