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University of Bradford Ethesis University of Bradford eThesis This thesis is hosted in Bradford Scholars – The University of Bradford Open Access repository. Visit the repository for full metadata or to contact the repository team © University of Bradford. This work is licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. Media consumption, identity and the Pakistani diaspora Manawar JAN-KHAN Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Social and International Studies University of Bradford 2014 Manawar Jan-Khan Media consumption, identity and the Pakistani diaspora. Keywords: diaspora, hybridity, identity, Islamophobia, media, Muslim, Pakistani, Pukhtoon, Punjabi, transnationalism Abstract This research seeks to address the issue of media consumption and the formation of diaspora identity within second and third generation British-born residents of Pakistani origin. In recent years there has been much debate centred on this group within the context of domestic and wider international geopolitics of winning hearts and minds, the ‘war on terror’ and the rise of the internet and social media as unrestricted spaces of self-expression. This has had a profound impact on the sense of belonging that transcends national boundaries and becomes a more transnational experience creating new communities of interest. The role of the media and other forms of communication may be a key or important determinant in how these groups, represented by the Pukhtoon and Punjabi in this study, not only see themselves but view representation of their identify and sense of self to a wider public arena. The perceived relationship between Islam and the ‘war on terror’ as formed by the media has had a profound impact on perceptions and mindsets of many of the diaspora. New technology has created a new smartphone generation able to reassess and reaffirm their emerging hybridity set within a new discourse of equal rights and respect for cultural and religious values within a transnational context. i Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following for their support in this work: All the members of the cohort groups – members of the Pukhtoon community in Oxford who came forward facilitated by Amer Akbar and Hamid Akbar, and of the Punjabi community in Luton, similarly facilitated by M. Ifraz Khan – without whom this study would not have been possible. My parents, family and friends in England and in Pakistan. My supervisor, Professor Yunas Samad, for his guidance and encouragement. Bill MacKeith, for his support in editing. Maria White for additional support. ii Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Transnationalism, media, identity and hybridity 16 Chapter 3 Methodology 81 Chapter 4 The impact of Islamaphobia 124 Chapter 5 Media production and identity 172 Chapter 6 Transnationalism and identity affirmation 208 Chapter 7 Conclusion 269 Bibliography 281 Chapter 1 Introduction The research aims to understand and analyse the construction of Pakistani diaspora identity through mass media consumption. Its objective is to assess whether the range of media consumption has an impact on the creation and development of a single or multiple identity amongst the British-born Pakistani populations of Luton and Oxford, of Punjabi and Pukhtoon backgrounds. The study will encompass gender, class, and socio-economic variations that also contribute to a personal sense of belonging in Britain. The impact of all forms of media will be assessed, including television, radio, newspapers, cable and satellite broadcasters and new media formats such as the plethora of social media and what can be described as existing and emerging ‘smartphone’ technologies. With respect to the Pakistani population in Britain, there exists a body of literature on aspects of their cultural, social, political, economic, religious and racial status through the generations. These are past and present representations, whether as early migrants or as British-born citizens of Pakistani origin. This has all been recorded and analysed in the context of work signified by, amongst others, Husband (1994, 1996), Lewis (1991, 2003), Shaw (1994) Ansari (2002), Modood (2003, 2005, 2010), Alam and Husband (2006) Samad (2006), Samad and Sen (2007), Malik (2006) and Manzoor (2007). Many have focused on the relationships these communities have with their space in contemporary Britain. There is some literature available on the media in respect to British Muslims as a whole (Poole 2002, 2006; Ahmed 2006). However, there is little written about the role and impact of the media on these specific cultural groups within the Pakistani diaspora community. They are a distinct group in their own right that form the majority of the Pakistani population in Britain. They retain a sense of common belonging to the sub-continent and inherited attitudes to their reflected cultural identities. 1 In essence, this study seeks to examine and deconstruct a number of key issues and themes that relate to two specific cultural communities – Punjabi and Pukhtoon (or Pashtun) – of the Pakistani diaspora. The aims and objectives of the research question therefore provide a route map of this exploration as it seeks to: Investigate the type and range of mass media utilised by the Pakistani diaspora within two specific cohort groups, namely the Punjabi and Pukhtoon, and consumption of new forms of media by second and third generation Pakistanis, by gender and class. Assess the impact of the range of media consumption on the formation, redefinition or enhancement of identity. Assess any differentials based on cultural variations within the two specific cultural cohort groups (Punjabi and Pukhtoon) of British-born Pakistanis. Investigate whether the media plays a significant part in the reinforcement of personal and/or group identity within the Pakistani diaspora and how this is reflected and translated on a day-to-day level. Inevitably, across the globe, the media is playing an increasingly dominant role in society. Yet it has a specific significance in relation to the Pakistani diaspora within this research, conducted at a time of much complexity in their lives; mass media attention on Muslims, animosity towards the Iraq war, perceptions of scapegoating and apprehension in those they can trust in their own communities, Islamaphobia. They all contributed to a sense of rejection articulated through the narratives. Associated within this discourse is the importance of increasing technological advances within new media, equipment and the means of mass communication. This includes the internet, smartphones, 4G and growing social media developments such as Facebook and Twitter. This has created a clear divide between age groups, between those who are the youthful ‘smartphone generation’ and the ageing population who are more likely to be technophobic in this new media age, unfamiliar, if not willing to engage, with instant messaging and video or music downloads generally. 2 The Leveson Inquiry (2012) findings also provide a useful backdrop and examination of the role, functions and relationships of the press in Britain with power, the political class and corruption, and the ability to influence and control news. Its televised proceedings and appearances of politicians, celebrities, news media editors and proprietors provided an insight to the public at large into the day-to-day and behind-the-scenes modus operandi of this powerful and intrusive medium. The evidence given in the Leveson Inquiry is part of the discourse on the changing nature of diasporas that have themselves been subject to much media attention and analysis, among them the Pakistani and Muslims in Britain. At the heart of this discourse on changing nature is an understanding of the evolution of multiple identities forging a new Britishness that is not one single component but made up of many symbiotic elements that make up this hybridity of identity, a process in which mass media representations play a role. These elements can be considered as the essential building blocks of this study that together will provide some understanding of the subject of investigation. As part of that process, this introduction will set out the context and structure of the population group, namely the Pakistani diaspora in Britain, and relate it to a strong sense of religious obligation to the Islamic faith. For the purposes of this research question, the terms ‘sample diaspora’ and ‘diaspora’ may be used to signify the respondents recorded in this study. This qualification is necessary, as the interviewees are a small segment of the British Pakistani diaspora and therefore, while providing their thoughts, perceptions and analysis of their media consumption, cannot be concluded as representing the totality of the British Pakistani diasporic community. A comparison is made between how these two groups of British-born Pakistanis of Punjabi and Pukhtoon backgrounds utilise the mass media and how the mass media, in turn, defines their presence and contribution to British society as citizens. The study reveals a difference in approach and emphasis in how the Pukhtoon and Punjabi draw a distinction between each other within a wider 3 Pakistani community setting, a difference that could shape and reinforce a sense of cultural, political and social identity within a transnational context, as reflected in the literature. 1.2 Thesis outline Chapters address the key issues that have emerged from the data. Chapter 1 introduces the study itself, setting out the rationale for the chosen research question, the value of the
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