USURPING FREEDOM OF RELIGION? A MODERN AMERICAN PERCEPTION OF TERRORISM AND ISLAM

Abstract

Terrorism as a conceptual category has become inextricably linked with Islam in the collective American imagination. This article traces the historical precedent for the United States’ political, social, and media-fostered definitions of modern terrorism. It problematizes the fluidity of terms like ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ in light of their inconsistency across government agencies in the United States, and touches upon the implications of these definitions for American Muslims.