The events of 9/11 (2001), 7/7 (2005), and the failed Glasgow airport attacks of July 2007, have had a number of important implications in terms of how young Muslims have been discussed and represented in political and public discourses. Muslims have been discussed in terms of their supposed ‘radicalisation’ and ‘young ethnic and religious minority people, especially young Muslim men, are at the epicentre of this [security] consciousness’ (McGhee 2008:95). Security concerns have morphed into broader cultural critiques, to include the wearing of the veil and transnational arranged marriages between British Asians and foreign spouses.
The once largely benign ‘Muslim diasporic public sphere’ has come to be ‘redefined by the British media and politicians as hidden and conspiratorial’ (Werbner 2005: 762). The resultant Islamophobia that ‘reinforces the disadvantage and discrimination experienced by many Muslims’ (Ansari 2004:394) has meant that young Muslims are resentful with having their loyalty to Britain questioned, concerned at being stereotyped as potential terrorists, and indignant at the idea that they should do more to integrate into British life. The implications of such discourses are, however, felt much more broadly.
This study takes place across a number of sites in Scotland and focuses on: (a) patterns of Islamophobia and (b) everyday geopolitics among young people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds.
In focusing upon ‘everyday geopolitics’, we are interested in the ways in which international, national, state and local political issues shape, and are shaped by, people’s everyday lives in different contexts. We are therefore interested in the everyday lived experiences of place, politics and identities and the intersection of these multiple aspects on life experience and life chances.
A recent report by the British Council (2010), Perceptions of Muslims in Scotland, found that 65% of respondents in a survey of over 1000 ‘non-Muslim’ respondents indicated some degree of favourability towards Muslims. The majority of ‘non-Muslim’ young people in the study believed that Muslims in Scotland are well integrated. This differentiated from similar studies conducted in the UK. Muslims and ‘non-Muslims’ in the study view integration in Scotland as ‘easier’ than in England, in the main due to lower settlement numbers and to Scottish people having less fear of terrorist attacks.
Particular features of ‘Scottishness’, such as friendliness, sociability and having a welcoming disposition, were also cited as factors assisting integration. Although in Scotland - as in England – there are familiar catalogues of racism, religious intolerance and social exclusion (Arshad, 2003; Hopkins, 2004; Miles and Dunlop, 1987), there are unique aspects to the Scottish context that provide an important framework for the proposed research.
We contend therefore, that it is not possible to transplant existing discourses about Islamophobia in England onto the Scottish context, and so research requires a specifically Scottish focus. The notion of ‘multicultural nationalism’ is seen as a particular achievement of Scotland in the post-devolution era (Hussain and Miller, 2005). In what ways does Scottish nationalism secure a sense of being Scottish which does not appear to be dependent on ‘Othering’? If these studies are accurate, are young people from diverse ethnic and religious backgrounds in Scotland more able to successfully negotiate their socio-cultural aspirations in the public sphere? If so, what are the characteristics or lessons that could then be transferred to other parts of the UK and beyond?
Discrimination as a result of ‘association’ and ‘perception’ are now included in the Equality Act 2010 which came into force on 1 October 2010. Discrimination by association refers to the situation where an individual is discriminated against because of the characteristic of another person. Discrimination by perception is discrimination against someone because he or she is wrongly perceived to have a certain protected characteristic, such as being of a particular faith.
This project focuses on groups who may often be the targets of Islamophobia. To date there has been little if any research on this topic in Scotland or the impact of geopolitical events on the religious and cultural identities of young people in the UK.
The groups we will consult are outlined below; however, inevitably some young people will belong to more than one of these groups:
1. South Asian religious young people
2. Asylum-seekers and refugees
3. Eastern European migrants
4. International students
5. Muslims