Arzu Merali | Cambridge Alumni (original) (raw)
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Papers by Arzu Merali
Countering Islamophobia in Europe, 2019
This chapter identifies ten key dominant Islamophobic narratives and the ten key dominant counter... more This chapter identifies ten key dominant Islamophobic narratives and the ten key dominant counter-narratives to Islamophobia operating in the UK. Islamophobic narratives were found to fix Muslims collectively as, in descending order of prevalence, a threat to security, unassimilable, a demographic threat, an Islamisation threat, a threat to local, national and European identity, responsible for excessive women’s oppression, essentially different and violent, incomplete citizens and a risk to the majority, and essentially homophobic.
27 country reports on the state and development of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism by 31 scholars
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2020
The Long View, 2021
As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides bo... more As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides both worrying precedents as well as ways to move beyond the arguments that to be a citizen in the current age means to be and believe only one thing.
The Long View, 2022
If we really want to get beyond the ‘War on Terror’, argues Arzu Merali, we need to stop thinking... more If we really want to get beyond the ‘War on Terror’, argues Arzu Merali, we need to stop thinking and acting within its narratives.
IHRC, 2022
Arzu Merali reflects on Serial's podcast series of the infamous affair that resulted in a societa... more Arzu Merali reflects on Serial's podcast series of the infamous affair that resulted in a societal sea change for the worse against Muslims [substitute alternate teaser here].
The Long View 2:1, 2020
The promise represented by the emergence of Muslim civil society activism in late 1980's Britain ... more The promise represented by the emergence of Muslim civil society activism in late 1980's Britain has failed to translate into effective political agency. In fact, if anything, it has regressed under the weight of internal contradictions, powerful external opposition, and the absence of principled strategies. Arzu Merali explores how Muslims can get back on track.
The Long View 3:2, 2021
As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides bo... more As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides both worrying precedents as well as ways to move beyond the arguments that to be a citizen in the current age means to be and believe only one thing. If this were a story or a play, there would need to be a prologue of some sort. Setting the scene for the story to unfold would be the introduction of citizenship tests in the 2000s. It demands respondents check the right boxes on issues such as homosexuality, 'allowing' girls to wear what they want, date who they want and so on. Shift scene. A doctor politely declines to shake the hand of the woman passing him his certificate of naturalisation. The presentation was simply a formality-a celebration of this particular batch of 'new citizens'. It is 2015. The doctor has scored the highest in his citizenship test-presumably the same or similar to those above. The Baden-Württemberg courts would later agree that he had an 'impeccable record of integration' after arriving in Germany as a medical student in 2002. In 2020, those courts found that the decision to strip him of his citizenship, based on that one act, was sound. Why? The judgment, made in the middle of a pandemic that forbids the shaking of hands, or even standing within two metres of each other, was done so on the basis that the doctor had seen the bureaucrat's hand as "posing the threat of sexual seduction." He explained that his refusal was based on a promise he made to his wife when they married and swore never to shake anyone's hand ever again, whether male or female, to please the court, but it mattered not a jot.
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Women’s Institute (Mini... more The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Women’s Institute (Ministry of Equality), the Madrid Autonomous Community, Casa Árabe, and Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia Casa Asia hosted, in cooperation with Junta Islámica Catalana (JIC) and with the collaboration of the United States Embassy in Spain and the Iranian Embassy in Spain, the fourth congress on “Islamic Feminism” from October 21 to 24. The organizers placed the emphasis of the proceedings on the analysis of the present status of the movement and future perspectives. They sought to understand the reasons for opposing Islamic feminism – on the part of both nonMuslims and Muslims – and to seek ways to appropriately counteract such trends. The congress attempted to explore the potential of Islamic Feminism to change the experiences of Muslim women in the different contexts in which they face discrimination.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form ... more All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-... more This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-called Islamic feminism. This change has been effected in large part in the West , as part of the growing discourse of Euro-Islam, European Islam, indigenization of Islam, etc., a discourse that comes not from governments (though it is mirrored, applauded and rewarded by governments in the region) but from Muslim civil society, activists and intellectuals. The characteristics of this change include: the move from expressing a universal but co-operative form of ‘feminism’ to a particularist one; the unusual aspect of that particularism as an expression of mutedness as opposed to empowerment, as a form of enclosure and ringfencing rather than an expression of solidarity or an attempt to work / speak / understand co-operatively; a positioning of this ‘feminism’ within an enlightenment rather than a critical and / or decolonial normative framework; an implicit rejection of liberation in favo...
... We would also like to acknowledge Nikki Afzal, Musthak Ahmed, Sanjida Akhtar, Fahad Ansari, M... more ... We would also like to acknowledge Nikki Afzal, Musthak Ahmed, Sanjida Akhtar, Fahad Ansari, Mohammed Ali Abdul Aziz, Fatema Dossa, Beena Faridi, Huda Hllaiyil, Parveen Hussein, Khadijah Islam, Anas Kabar, Changez Ali Khan, Musa Kazi, Shaheen Mamood, Sister ...
This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-... more This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-called islamic feminism. This change has been effected in large part in Westernized settings, in particular as part of the growing discourse of euro-islam, european islam, indigenization of islam, etc. which is a discourse that comes not from governments (though it is mirrored, applauded and rewarded by governments in the region) but from Muslim civil society, activists and intellectuals. The paper sets out parameters for the use of the term ‘islamic feminism’ whilst acknowledging it to be a problematic term. The characteristics of this change include: the move from expressing a universal but cooperative form of ‘feminism’ to a particularistic one; the unusual aspect of that particularism as an expression of muteness as opposed to empowerment, as a form of enclosure and ringfencing rather than an expression of solidarity or an attempt to work / speak / understand co-operatively; a positi...
Taylor and Francis Ltd CBSE_A_195798.sgm 10.1080/01425690600958899 British Journal of Sociology o... more Taylor and Francis Ltd CBSE_A_195798.sgm 10.1080/01425690600958899 British Journal of Sociology of Education 0142-5692 (pri t)/1465-3346 (online) O ginal A tic e 2 06 & Francis 7 5 000November 2 6 Lou eArch louise. rcher@k l ac.uk British Muslims’ expectations of the government: Secular or Islamic? What schools do British Muslims want for their children? A.R. Ameli, A. Azam & A. Merali, 2005 London, Islamic Human Rights Commission £7, 82 pp. ISBN 1-903718-27-9
Countering Islamophobia in Europe, 2019
This chapter identifies ten key dominant Islamophobic narratives and the ten key dominant counter... more This chapter identifies ten key dominant Islamophobic narratives and the ten key dominant counter-narratives to Islamophobia operating in the UK. Islamophobic narratives were found to fix Muslims collectively as, in descending order of prevalence, a threat to security, unassimilable, a demographic threat, an Islamisation threat, a threat to local, national and European identity, responsible for excessive women’s oppression, essentially different and violent, incomplete citizens and a risk to the majority, and essentially homophobic.
27 country reports on the state and development of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism by 31 scholars
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2020
The Long View, 2021
As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides bo... more As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides both worrying precedents as well as ways to move beyond the arguments that to be a citizen in the current age means to be and believe only one thing.
The Long View, 2022
If we really want to get beyond the ‘War on Terror’, argues Arzu Merali, we need to stop thinking... more If we really want to get beyond the ‘War on Terror’, argues Arzu Merali, we need to stop thinking and acting within its narratives.
IHRC, 2022
Arzu Merali reflects on Serial's podcast series of the infamous affair that resulted in a societa... more Arzu Merali reflects on Serial's podcast series of the infamous affair that resulted in a societal sea change for the worse against Muslims [substitute alternate teaser here].
The Long View 2:1, 2020
The promise represented by the emergence of Muslim civil society activism in late 1980's Britain ... more The promise represented by the emergence of Muslim civil society activism in late 1980's Britain has failed to translate into effective political agency. In fact, if anything, it has regressed under the weight of internal contradictions, powerful external opposition, and the absence of principled strategies. Arzu Merali explores how Muslims can get back on track.
The Long View 3:2, 2021
As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides bo... more As narratives of belonging get narrower and narrower, Arzu Merali argues that Germany provides both worrying precedents as well as ways to move beyond the arguments that to be a citizen in the current age means to be and believe only one thing. If this were a story or a play, there would need to be a prologue of some sort. Setting the scene for the story to unfold would be the introduction of citizenship tests in the 2000s. It demands respondents check the right boxes on issues such as homosexuality, 'allowing' girls to wear what they want, date who they want and so on. Shift scene. A doctor politely declines to shake the hand of the woman passing him his certificate of naturalisation. The presentation was simply a formality-a celebration of this particular batch of 'new citizens'. It is 2015. The doctor has scored the highest in his citizenship test-presumably the same or similar to those above. The Baden-Württemberg courts would later agree that he had an 'impeccable record of integration' after arriving in Germany as a medical student in 2002. In 2020, those courts found that the decision to strip him of his citizenship, based on that one act, was sound. Why? The judgment, made in the middle of a pandemic that forbids the shaking of hands, or even standing within two metres of each other, was done so on the basis that the doctor had seen the bureaucrat's hand as "posing the threat of sexual seduction." He explained that his refusal was based on a promise he made to his wife when they married and swore never to shake anyone's hand ever again, whether male or female, to please the court, but it mattered not a jot.
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Women’s Institute (Mini... more The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the Women’s Institute (Ministry of Equality), the Madrid Autonomous Community, Casa Árabe, and Fundación Pluralismo y Convivencia Casa Asia hosted, in cooperation with Junta Islámica Catalana (JIC) and with the collaboration of the United States Embassy in Spain and the Iranian Embassy in Spain, the fourth congress on “Islamic Feminism” from October 21 to 24. The organizers placed the emphasis of the proceedings on the analysis of the present status of the movement and future perspectives. They sought to understand the reasons for opposing Islamic feminism – on the part of both nonMuslims and Muslims – and to seek ways to appropriately counteract such trends. The congress attempted to explore the potential of Islamic Feminism to change the experiences of Muslim women in the different contexts in which they face discrimination.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form ... more All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-... more This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-called Islamic feminism. This change has been effected in large part in the West , as part of the growing discourse of Euro-Islam, European Islam, indigenization of Islam, etc., a discourse that comes not from governments (though it is mirrored, applauded and rewarded by governments in the region) but from Muslim civil society, activists and intellectuals. The characteristics of this change include: the move from expressing a universal but co-operative form of ‘feminism’ to a particularist one; the unusual aspect of that particularism as an expression of mutedness as opposed to empowerment, as a form of enclosure and ringfencing rather than an expression of solidarity or an attempt to work / speak / understand co-operatively; a positioning of this ‘feminism’ within an enlightenment rather than a critical and / or decolonial normative framework; an implicit rejection of liberation in favo...
... We would also like to acknowledge Nikki Afzal, Musthak Ahmed, Sanjida Akhtar, Fahad Ansari, M... more ... We would also like to acknowledge Nikki Afzal, Musthak Ahmed, Sanjida Akhtar, Fahad Ansari, Mohammed Ali Abdul Aziz, Fatema Dossa, Beena Faridi, Huda Hllaiyil, Parveen Hussein, Khadijah Islam, Anas Kabar, Changez Ali Khan, Musa Kazi, Shaheen Mamood, Sister ...
This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-... more This paper contends that there has been a definitive and negative change in the trajectory of so-called islamic feminism. This change has been effected in large part in Westernized settings, in particular as part of the growing discourse of euro-islam, european islam, indigenization of islam, etc. which is a discourse that comes not from governments (though it is mirrored, applauded and rewarded by governments in the region) but from Muslim civil society, activists and intellectuals. The paper sets out parameters for the use of the term ‘islamic feminism’ whilst acknowledging it to be a problematic term. The characteristics of this change include: the move from expressing a universal but cooperative form of ‘feminism’ to a particularistic one; the unusual aspect of that particularism as an expression of muteness as opposed to empowerment, as a form of enclosure and ringfencing rather than an expression of solidarity or an attempt to work / speak / understand co-operatively; a positi...
Taylor and Francis Ltd CBSE_A_195798.sgm 10.1080/01425690600958899 British Journal of Sociology o... more Taylor and Francis Ltd CBSE_A_195798.sgm 10.1080/01425690600958899 British Journal of Sociology of Education 0142-5692 (pri t)/1465-3346 (online) O ginal A tic e 2 06 & Francis 7 5 000November 2 6 Lou eArch louise. rcher@k l ac.uk British Muslims’ expectations of the government: Secular or Islamic? What schools do British Muslims want for their children? A.R. Ameli, A. Azam & A. Merali, 2005 London, Islamic Human Rights Commission £7, 82 pp. ISBN 1-903718-27-9
BMEG, 2005
The report is the third in the series British Muslims’ Expectations of the Government. It aims at... more The report is the third in the series British Muslims’ Expectations of the Government. It aims at producing a study of the reality behind detracting claims concerning faith-based schools and religion and Islam on a broad scale. The report addresses the critique of faith schools, that they are divisive and foster fundamentalism, the issue of underachievement among Muslim students and the experience of bullying and isolation felt by Muslim students in schools. Additionally, the report seeks to extract the positive implications of parents’ international human rights to determine their children’s education. The issue of state-funding of Muslim schools, their benefits and current standing, as well as a comparison of funds allocated across a range of myriad other faith schools is also addressed.
BMEG, 2004
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form ... more All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereinafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
BMEG, 2004
This report examines how such discourses create a sustained atmosphere that eventually leads to t... more This report examines how such discourses create a sustained atmosphere that eventually leads to the normalisation and increase of discrimination in everyday life, and even in the operation of new policy and the creation of new law. It uses data on discrimination gathered as part of the British Muslims’ Expectations of the Government project, as well as interviews and case studies to highlight not only the rise and pervasiveness of discrimination against Muslims, but its varying and worrying nature. From sophisticated and subtle exclusion to violent attacks, discrimination is becoming part of the life landscape for Muslims in the UK.
Revealing the findings of the 2014 survey of Muslims in the UK and comparing them with the result... more Revealing the findings of the 2014 survey of Muslims in the UK and comparing them with the results of 2010, this book lays out the deterioration of the situation using the Domination Hate Model of Intercultural Relations.
B Br ri it ti is sh h M Mu us sl li im ms s' ' E Ex xp pe ec ct ta at ti io on ns s o of f t th h... more B Br ri it ti is sh h M Mu us sl li im ms s' ' E Ex xp pe ec ct ta at ti io on ns s o of f t th he e G Go ov ve er rn nm me en nt t Social Discrimination: Across the Muslim Divide S Sa ai ie ed d R R. . A Am me el li i M Ma an nz zu ur r E El la ah hi i A Ar rz zu u M Me er ra al li i www.ihrc.org.uk 2 20 00 04 4 P Pu ub bl li is sh he ed d b by y I Is sl la am mi ic c H Hu um ma an n R Ri ig gh ht ts s C Co om mm mi is ss si io on n
The video of the talk at the 'Multiculturalism, cultural rights, public freedoms and integration'... more The video of the talk at the 'Multiculturalism, cultural rights, public freedoms and integration' panel on 13 September 2016
The transcript of the panel discussion involving Professor Tahir Abbas and Arzu Merali on 13 Sept... more The transcript of the panel discussion involving Professor Tahir Abbas and Arzu Merali on 13 September 2016
VIDEO here: https://youtu.be/cKHx6ZkCuzE?t=20m51s
Mutliculturalism has become one of the testing grounds of modern liberal democracy and is facing enormous challenges. The recent flare up of Islamophobia and the confusion surrounding Muslim women dress, in addition to the PREVENT programme are real challenges to pluralism and inclusiveness. Yet integration is often presented as the lacking element in the minds of Muslims residing in the West. These multiple facets of the human-habitation need to be studied if proper evaluation of the ideological foundations of the modern world is to be understood. These issues will be addressed by the panelists.
Merali discusses the impact of the Charlie Hebdo kilings on the UK.
Arzu Merali speaks at the ALICE Colloquium in the University of Coimbra in 2014 on Islamic framew... more Arzu Merali speaks at the ALICE Colloquium in the University of Coimbra in 2014 on Islamic frameworks of understanding being and therefore narratives of justice.
Merali and Dr. Salman Sayyid address a side panel at the United Nations in 2014.
Compilación: Ramón Grosfoguel Feminismos islámicos Chapter by Sirin Adlbi Sibai: El hiyab en la ... more Compilación: Ramón Grosfoguel
Feminismos islámicos
Chapter by Sirin Adlbi Sibai: El hiyab en la obra de Fátima Mernissi o la paradoja del silenciamiento: hacia un pensamiento islámico decolonial
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2020
This study aims to scrutinise the implementation of a “vicarious retribution model” on anti-Musli... more This study aims to scrutinise the implementation of a “vicarious retribution model” on anti-Muslim hate crimes and suggests that despite its advantages, the model is not sufficient to provide a clear picture of hate crimes alone and needs a supporting model such as “the domination hate model of intercultural relations” (DHMIR) to give it a historical and socio-political context. Whilst a rigorous model of analysis, the “vicarious retribution model,” has been co-opted by institutions to explain the rise in hate crimes based on the assumption that the U.K. (and other countries investigated) have only experienced Islamophobia in the post 9–11 context. The IHRC surveys in the U.K. in 2010 and 2014, the occurrence of Brexit, and the post-referendum spike in hate crimes belie some of the foundations of the applicability of this model. Therefore, the study is an effort to understand anti-Muslim hate crimes through the use of the “vicarious retribution model” and the DHMIR.