Resilience and resistance: how young Northwestern European Muslims confront pedagogical Islamophobia

Abstract

This paper examines how Islamophobia operates within educational institutions across the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. Drawing on 114 interviews, six focus groups, and survey data from 5501 respondents, it develops the concept of ‘pedagogical Islamophobia’ as a systemic form of discrimination produced through everyday educational encounters. The analysis identifies hostility from peers, biased conduct by staff, and the targeting of visible Muslim identity, alongside the influence of securitisation policies that frame Muslim students as suspect. These forms intersect and vary across national settings, shaped by distinct political and institutional environments. Survey results corroborate these accounts and show that Muslims are significantly more likely to report identity-based humiliation within educational settings. The paper also highlights the agency of young Muslims, detailing strategies of resilience and resistance that challenge exclusion and assert identity. The study offers a comparative account of how Islamophobia operates and is negotiated within contemporary European education.