Citizenship, ethnicity and identity (original) (raw)
Related papers
Citizenship, participation and identity construction: Political mobilization amongst British Muslims
Recent thinking on the topic of citizenship addresses the diversity to be found in contemporary societies. In so doing, it draws attention to issues raised by the assertion of group identities. Correspondingly, developing conceptions of citizenship move beyond considerations of individuals’ legal rights and obligations, and highlight the importance of exploring the processes by which collective rights are asserted. This puts the issue of identity and identity-related action centre stage. In this paper we develop a social psychological perspective on collective identity and action that contributes to these developments. Using data gathered from Muslims living in Britain, we explore the arguments taking place within this community concerning their relations with the non-Muslim majority (especially as manifested in a debate concerning participation in UK General Elections). We show that Muslim identity is a site of contestation with different identity constructions being advanced by those seeking to organise divergent forms of claims-making and collective action. More specifically, we show how contrasting forms of action (designed to bring about different social relations) are advanced through different invocations of Prophetic example when Muslims were social and numerical minorities. Overall, we hope to illustrate the importance of conceiving of identities as constructed in the context of articulating, and mobilising support for, political claims.
IDENTITY, NATION AND RELIGION: EDUCATED YOUNG BANGLADESHI MUSLIMS IN LONDON'S 'EAST END'
An analysis of the diverse understandings among British Bengalis of their social identities as shaped by national and Muslim belongings. The complexity of these understandings is described as the young Bengalis explore the interrelationships between these identities, attempt to rank them and, in some cases, look beyond national boundaries to a worldwide Islamic community. Their constructions of identity are influenced by their social situation within Britain where racism plays a significant role but also by political and religious developments within Bangladesh and other nation-states within the Indian sub-continent. Like other descendants of migrant workers in W. Europe they are caught up in a public debate about national belonging where their supra-national links provide them with special insights into the construction of hybrid identities and new ethnicities and the maintenance of individual identities in a globalising world .
2004
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 Dual Citizenship: British, Islamic or Both? Obligation, Recognition, Respect and Belonging S Sa ai ie ed d R R. . A Am me el li i A Ar rz zu u M Me er ra al li i 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 Dual Citizenship: British, Islamic or Both? Obligation, Recognition, Respect and Belonging S Sa ai ie ed d R R. . A Am me el li i A Ar rz zu u M Me er ra al li i www.ihrc.org.uk
Dual Citizenship: British, Islamic or Both? — Obligation, Recognition, Respect and Belonging
BMEG, 2004
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.
Muslims in Britain: questioning Islamic and national identity
Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 2012
Islamic identity has been a central issue since the emergence of Islam in theseventh century. Muslims have been interacted with many symbols of religiousidentity since this early time of Islam. Every generation of Muslims has their ownway to show their religious identity. Muslims in Britain are also still continuing tosearch for religious identity. They seek to re-evaluate their identity and constructa sense of what it means to be a Muslim in Britain today. This article would like toelaborate several discussions on Muslims’ identities in Britain. There are twodifferent opinions on this issue. The first opinion comes from Muslims who believethat a Muslim individual should choose to be either a Muslim or a British.They argue that national values differ from religious norms. The second, however,states that one Muslim can be both a Muslim and a British at the same time.For them, there is no contradiction between being a Muslim and being a Britishcitizen. They argue that nationality and ...
Good Muslim Citizens? Conceptualisations of British citizenship among Muslims
2011
After September 11th the European Muslim minorities became subject to increased hostility, suspicion and prejudice. Since then, following the war in Iraq, 7/7 London bombings, 21/7 attempted London bombings, and the aff air over the Danish cartoons, it has gotten progressively worse. Increasingly, the ‘strongly voiced if imprecise doubts (...) on their loyalty as citizens’1 became a huge part of this prejudice. Numerous surveys questioning Muslim Britons on issues of Sharia law and freedom of speech were published and despite being most seriously fl awed in their methods, gained mainstream infl uence and fuelled the fear-mongering atmosphere surrounding the Muslim minorities in Britain (all these surveys aside from the policy exchange). Th e left wing media has been particularly critical of Muslims as a result of the assumption that Islam is inherently illiberal.2 Islam is often perceived as a threat to British values and as incompatible with British democracy – the wider public sup...
Good Muslim Citizens? Conceptualisation of British citizenship among Muslims
TO CITE: Sobolewska (2012) "Good Muslim Citizens? Conceptualisation of British citizenship among Muslims" Studia Erasmiana Wratislaviensia, Vol.V, 251-267. After September 11 th the European Muslim minorities became subject to increased hostility, suspicion and prejudice. Since then, following the war in Iraq, 7/7 London bombings, 21/7 attempted London bombings, and the affair over the Danish cartoons, it has gotten progressively worse. Increasingly, the 'strongly voiced if imprecise doubts (…) on their loyalty as citizens' 1 became a huge part of this prejudice. Numerous surveys questioning Muslim Britons on issues of Sharia law and freedom of speech were published and despite being most seriously flawed in their methods, gained mainstream influence and fuelled the fear-mongering atmosphere surrounding the Muslim minorities in Britain (all these surveys aside from the policy exchange). The left wing media has been particularly critical of Muslims as a result of the assumption that Islam is inherently illiberal. 2 Islam is often perceived as a threat to British values and as incompatible with British democracythe wider public supports this view in surprisingly large numbers: a MORI poll from August 2005 showed 27% Britons believed in such incompatibility, and a PEW GLOBAL poll from June 2006 confirmed that 54% of Britons saw a conflict between being a devout Muslim and in living in a modern society. Fuelled by the everpopular notion of the clash of civilisations, 3 doubts over how the allegedly illiberal and culturally alien Islam will fit into modern British democratic values are growing. One consequence of this perception of Islam is the suspicions that British Muslims are not 'good citizens'. There are two reasons why this is not only interesting but also important to address. Firstly, the notion of British citizenship is at best fluid and 1 T. Modood, Muslims and the Politics