Citizenship, Identity and the Politics of Multiculturalism: The Rise of Muslim Consciousness (Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series)

"This book proposes a fresh perspective on the emergence of public Muslim identities, traversing issues of Muslim-state engagement across government initiatives and church-state relations, across equalities agendas and the education system, the courts and the media"--Provided by publisher. This book provides a fresh perspective on the emergence of public Muslim identities, traversing issues of Muslim-state engagement across government initiatives and church-state relations, across equalities agendas and the education system, the courts and the media. The emergence of public Muslim identities is widely considered to be one of the most interesting and pressing sociological and political concerns of the day. With cases of Muslim identity claims-making in European nation-states, and a global geo-political context that is marked by issues of international terrorism and Muslim radicalism, the interest in Muslim identities, and their interaction with nation-state governance, has assumed a profound significance in research and policy agendas across European politics and society. In order to understand current trends in the adoption and espousal of Muslim identities in Britain, not only is it necessary to obtain a historical understanding of their development through British approaches to minority integration. It is also necessary to look at forms of 'consciousness' that are informing and shaping the assertion of Muslim identities in Britain, and what this can tell us about their future orientation. This book develops a novel sociological and political understanding of Muslim identities in Britain, which is elaborated through case studies of Muslim mobilizations over issues of education, discrimination legislation, media representation, as well as a consideration of the local impact of global concerns surrounding issues of terrorism and Muslim radicalism "This is a refreshing and innovative account of the formation of different types of consciousness among Muslims in Britain and globally. Nasar Meer's lucid analysis of the complex processes at work is a timely reminder of the dangers of an over-simplified understanding of both Islam and Muslim communities. This is a book that deserves the widest possible readership"--John Solomos, Professor of Sociology, City University London, UK 'Nasar Meer's timely book makes an important contribution to current understandings of multiculturalism in Britain. He successfully deploys a critical application of the work of W.E.B Du Bois to theorise 'Muslim-consciousness' in relation to state funding of Muslim schools, race discrimination legislation and media representations of Muslim identity. The book uses Du Bois' notion of consciousness to articulate a nuanced understanding of British Muslim consciousness, distinguishing between a consciousness that exists 'in itself' and 'for itself', where the former is a socially imposed consciousness and the latter which is a product of self-mobilisation. Meer's work is both theoretically strong and empirically original.' - Judith Squires, Professor of Political Theory, University of Bristol, UK Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction....Pages 1-7 Framing Citizenship....Pages 8-30 Du Bois and Consciousness....Pages 31-54 Conceptualising Muslim-Consciousness: From Race to Religion?....Pages 55-80 Local and Global Muslim Identities....Pages 81-106 Muslim Schools in Britain: Muslim-Consciousness in Action....Pages 107-143 Muslims and Discrimination: Muslim-Consciousness in Re-Action?....Pages 144-178 Muslims in Public and Media Discourse....Pages 179-197 Towards a Synthesised Muslim-Consciousness....Pages 198-205 Back Matter....Pages 206-248 Machine generated contents note: Introduction Framing Citizenship Du Bois, Consciousness and Double Consciousness Conceptualising Muslim-consciousness: From Race to Religion Local and Global Muslim Identities and the Rise of Islamophobia Muslim Schools in Britain: Muslim-consciousness in Action Muslims and Discrimination: Muslim-consciousness in Re-action Muslims in Public and Media Discourse Towards a Synthesised Muslim-consciousness Bibliography.

This book proposes a fresh perspective on the emergence of public Muslim identities, traversing issues of Muslim-state engagement across government initiatives and church-state relations, across equalities agendas and the education system, the courts and the media.