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Dissonant belongings: The evolving spatial identities of young Muslim men in the UK

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  • Arshad Isakjee

Abstract

Since 2001, a number of controversial and sometimes violent events in the UK and elsewhere have raised anxieties around British Muslim male identities. The problematisation of those identities is now framed around the supposed conflict between Britishness and Muslim-ness. Yet these discourses of the belonging of young Muslim identities often underplay or fail to consider the increasing importance of local, British spaces in ethnically diverse towns and cities, shaping and creating new dynamics of identification. This study draws upon extensive ethnographic research and mobile interviews to provide a comprehensive study of these evolving spatial identities of British young Muslim men. It uses Birmingham as a case study area, a city in which more than a fifth of the population describe themselves as holding to a Muslim faith. The study contrasts how the everyday experiences that underpin Muslim identity stand in stark contrast to less tangible notions of Britishness. The article concludes by positing that young Muslim male identities are characterised by a dissonance between the emotional place-belongingness that evokes for them a sense of inclusion, and the politics of belonging that marks out their exclusion.

Suggested Citation

  • Arshad Isakjee, 2016. "Dissonant belongings: The evolving spatial identities of young Muslim men in the UK," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(7), pages 1337-1353, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:48:y:2016:i:7:p:1337-1353
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X16641110
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard Gale, 2013. "Religious Residential Segregation and Internal Migration: The British Muslim Case," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 45(4), pages 872-891, April.
    2. Rajinder Kumar Dudrah, 2002. "Birmingham (UK): Constructing city spaces through Black popular cultures and the Black public sphere," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(3), pages 335-350, November.
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