A Review of The Impossibility of Innocence: Muslim Boyhood Under Surveillance by Shenila Khoja-Moolji

Authors : Şeyda Karabatak

Pages : 283-290

Doi:10.21798/kadem.2025.184

View : 32 | Download : 14

Publication Date : 2025-06-30

Article Type : Other Papers

Abstract :This review discusses The Impossibility of Muslim Boyhood by Shenila Khoja-Moolji, a critical contribution to studies of race, gender, and Islamophobia. The book interrogates how Muslim boys in the United States are systematically racialized, denied childhood innocence, and framed as future security threats. Drawing on critical race theory, postcolonial studies, and gender theory, Khoja-Moolji situates these experiences within a broader ideological framework of carceral control and racial capitalism. Through detailed case studies, media analysis, and interviews, the author reveals how Muslim boys are not only criminalized but also commodified in ways that serve both state security agendas and capitalist interests. The book also expands its lens globally by comparing the U.S. context to Hindutva discourses in India, highlighting the transnational dynamics of Islamophobia. Overall, The Impossibility of Muslim Boyhood presents a compelling and well-theorized account of how fear, surveillance, and systemic exclusion shape the lived experiences of Muslim boys in both national and global contexts.
Keywords : Erkeklik, Erkek çocukluk, Irksallaştırma, Gözetim, İslamofobi.

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