Homegrown Radicals A Story of State Violence, Islamophobia, and Jihad in the Post-9/11 World

February 25
SFU Downtown Campus | Wosk Centre, Room 420

Doors open at 5:30 | Light Refreshments Provided

On February 25, join CCMS for a book talk with Youcef Soufi, author of Homegrown Radicals: A Story of State Violence, Islamophobia, and Jihad in the Post-9/11 World. This talk will include a discussion with an expert in the subjects of Islamophobia and its effects on Muslim communities across Turtle Island and beyond, Itrath Syed.

About the Book:

Homegrown Radicals: A Story of State Violence, Islamophobia, and Jihad in the Post-9/11 World (NYU Press, 2025) tells the harrowing story of three Muslim university students suspected of “radicalization.” But the narrative goes beyond the headlines, delving into the lives of the families, friends, and Muslim community left to grapple with grief, loss, and the chilling effects of hyper-surveillance. Blending scholarly insight, archival research, and auto-ethnography, Youcef Soufi confronts the enduring impact of Islamophobic policies and the “war on terror” on Muslim communities of North America. From university halls to courtrooms, Homegrown Radicals is a poignant exploration of systemic injustice and the devaluation of Muslim lives. This book talk is a must for anyone interested in understanding North American Muslim life under the War on the Terror and the far-reaching consequences of the liberal state’s violence at home and abroad.

Featuring:

Youcef Soufi, PhD, is a Researcher in Islamophobia with the Institute for the Humanities and the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Manitoba. His writings focus on the history of Islamic thought and on contemporary Islamophobia, and include the book. The Rise of Critical Islam, published by Oxford University Press. He is the former Chair of the Canadian Association for the Study of Islam and Muslims (CASIM).

Discussants:

Itrath Syed is a member of the local Muslim community and an Instructor of Women’s Studies at Langara College. Her MA in Gender Studies from UBC explored the gendered and racialized construction of the Muslim community in the media discourse surrounding the Islamic Arbitration or “Shariah” debate in Ontario.