Tom Mills – författare

As racist undercurrents in many western societies become manifestly entrenched, the prevalence of Islamophobia - and the need to understand what perpetuates it - has never been greater. Critiquing the arguments found in notionally left accounts and addressing the limitations of existing responses, What is Islamophobia? demonstrates that Islamophobia is not simply a product of abstract, or discursive, ideological processes, but of concrete social, political and cultural actions undertaken in the pursuit of certain interests.The book centres on what the editors refer to as the 'five pillars of Islamophobia': the institutions and machinery of the state; the far right, incorporating the counterjihad movement; the neoconservative movement; the transnational Zionist movement; and assorted liberal groupings including the pro-war left, and the new atheist movement. The book concludes with reflections on existing strategies for tackling Islamophobia, considering what their distinctive approaches mean for fighting back.

As racist undercurrents in many western societies become manifestly entrenched, the prevalence of Islamophobia - and the need to understand what perpetuates it - has never been greater. Critiquing the arguments found in notionally left accounts and addressing the limitations of existing responses, What is Islamophobia? demonstrates that Islamophobia is not simply a product of abstract, or discursive, ideological processes, but of concrete social, political and cultural actions undertaken in the pursuit of certain interests.The book centres on what the editors refer to as the 'five pillars of Islamophobia': the institutions and machinery of the state; the far right, incorporating the counterjihad movement; the neoconservative movement; the transnational Zionist movement; and assorted liberal groupings including the pro-war left, and the new atheist movement. The book concludes with reflections on existing strategies for tackling Islamophobia, considering what their distinctive approaches mean for fighting back.

As the BBC approaches charter renewal in 2028, this book asks a question few are willing to confront: who does the BBC really serve? At a moment when public media faces its most consequential reckoning in decades, it argues that the future of democratic life in Britain—and beyond—will be decided by how this question is answered.Since its creation in the final decades of the British Empire, the BBC has wielded enormous cultural and political power in the UK and around the world. Yet it remains largely unaccountable to the public it claims to serve. The 2028 charter renewal, the corporation’s first in the digital age, will determine its governance and operational structure for at least a decade—and in doing so will help shape what kind of country Britain becomes.This book shows how and why the BBC continues to operate as an instrument of elite power at home and abroad, before laying out a practical path beyond it. It proposes transforming an imperial-era broadcaster into a democratic digital media institution, governed through universal rights and randomly selected public bodies. In doing so, it offers not just a plan for the BBC, but a replicable model for public media in the twenty-first century.Too often the left has underestimated the power of the media and the role communication plays in shaping democratic life. This book argues that without meaningful public control over the institutions through which information circulates, politics risks becoming increasingly shaped by persuasion rather than participation. Against the limits of liberal paternalism, it makes the case for democratic media governance as both a practical necessity and a wider political possibility, with the BBC serving as a test case for what such an alternative might look like.

The BBC is one of the most important institutions in Britain; it is also one of the most misunderstood. Despite its claim to be independent and impartial, and the constant accusations of a liberal bias, from its Reithian origins to its coverage of the 2019 General Election: the BBC has always sided with the elite. As Tom Mills demonstrates, we are only getting the news that the Establishment wants aired in public. And yet in the current age of multi-platform news, this bias is increasingly exposed. Mills asks if the institution is fit for purpose? And can it even be reformed? The BBC is an important and timely examination of a crucial public institution that may threaten the very thing it was meant to uphold: democracy.