New Books in Islamic Studies
New Books in Islamic Studies

Radio ReOrient S14:10: Muslims in the Neoliberal Era, with William Barylo, hosted by Salman Sayyid and Amina Easat-Daas

June 5, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

Muslims in the Neoliberal Era

William Barylo, a research fellow at the University of Warwick, spent a decade investigating a puzzle: why did Muslims in the UK behave so differently from Muslims in France? In France, where he embraced Islam in 2008, he found a community defined by solidarity across sectarian and ethnic lines—Sufis, Salafis, Sunnis, and Shia working together to feed the homeless or help students. When he moved to the UK in 2013, he encountered something that struck him as paradoxical: Muslims collaborating with counter-extremism programs and Zionist organizations, multi-million pound charities mimicking British colonial officers abroad, influencer culture, and an obsession with selling halal-certified products, including halal cat food. "I wanted to understand the why and the how," Barylo explains. "Why do people behave in that way? Why do people sell these kind of narratives and others fall for them?"

Two Regimes, Two Responses

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What you'll learn

  • 1 (00:47) **Introduction and Guest Welcome** - Hosts Salman Sayyid and Amina Easat-Daas introduce the episode and guest William Barylo, framing the discussion around Muslim complicity with neoliberalism and Islamophobia.
  • 2 (01:47) **The Book's Origin: A Decade-Long Investigation** - William Barylo explains what sparked his 10-year project: the shocking contrast between the justice-oriented Islam he found in France and the "paradoxical behaviors" he saw in the UK.
  • 3 (06:22) **Key Distinction: French vs. British Islamophobia** - Barylo contrasts the two national approaches to controlling Muslim presence, setting up a core analytical frame for the episode.
  • 4 (12:17) **Contrasting Community Solidarity: France vs. UK** - Barylo describes a surprising difference in internal community dynamics, with French Muslims showing more cross-sectarian solidarity than their British counterparts.
  • 5 (14:59) **Defining Resistance Against the "Matrix of Oppression"** - Barylo explains his framework for understanding resistance, which must counter a system that infiltrates every area of life.
  • 6 (16:46) **Case Study: Rumi's Cave as a Counter-Space** - Barylo offers a concrete example of a site of resistance in London that operates as the antithesis of the "empire."
  • 7 (23:58) **The Circular Dynamic of Community Spaces** - In response to Salman Sayyid's question about whether resistance is intrinsic to Muslimness or shaped by the environment, Barylo posits a circular relationship.

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Guests on this episode

Amina Easat-Daas

Show Notes

In this episode hosts Salman Sayyid and Amina Easat-Daas were joined by William Barylo to discuss his most recent book ‘Muslims in the Neoliberal Era: Resisting, Healing, and Flourishing in the Metacolonial Era’. The discussion centred on the differing nature of the Muslim experience in France, the UK, and beyond, and the ways in which Muslims find spaces and forms of community resistance in view of the dominant structures. William Barylo is a research fellow in Sociology at the University of Warwick.

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