Outsiders at Home

How do Muslim Americans fare in US democracy? This book provides evidence that Muslim Americans are grossly marginalized, evaluating discrimination from a variety of perspectives to present a multi-faceted account. Lajevardi shows that the current state of affairs developed rapidly, is getting worse, and has yielded devastating political consequences.

---

Discrimination against Muslim Americans has soared over the last two decades with hostility growing especially acute since 2016 - in no small part due to targeted attacks by policymakers and media. Outsiders at Home offers the first systematic, empirically driven examination of status of Muslim Americans in US democracy, evaluating the topic from a variety of perspectives. To what extent do Muslim Americans face discrimination by legislators, the media, and the general public? What trends do we see over time, and how have conditions shifted? What, if anything, can be done to reverse course? How do Muslim Americans view their position, and what are the psychic and sociopolitical tolls? Answering each of these questions, Nazita Lajevardi shows that the rampant, mostly negative discussion of Muslims in media and national discourse has yielded devastating political and social consequences.