Producing the Muslim Woman in Public and Policy Discourse in the UK

The London School of Economics and Political Science Veiled Threats: Producing the Muslim Woman in Public and Policy Discourse in the UK Naaz Fouzia Rashid A thesis submitted to the Department of Sociology of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, March 2013 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 74,716 words. Statement of use of third party for editorial help (if applicable) I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Howard J Doble. 2 Abstract This thesis looks at how ‘the Muslim woman’ is produced in social policy discourses in the UK. It is a qualitative study based on interviews, observation and interpretive analysis of policy material. It focuses specifically on initiatives to empower Muslim women in order to combat terrorism which formed part of the UK’s Preventing Violent Extremism Agenda (Prevent). In January 2008 the National Muslims Women’s Advisory Group (NMWAG) was established and Local Authorities were encouraged to fund projects aimed at ‘empowering Muslim women’. The thesis begins by situating the research within a wider policy framework. At the national level it relates to debates on community cohesion, Britishness and multiculturalism; at the global level it relates to the UK’s involvement in the ‘war on terror’. The research examines local inflections in how the initiatives worked in practice, considering the impact of diversity within diversity. A key objective of these initiatives was to ‘give the silent majority a stronger voice’. The thesis considers the extent to which this objective was achieved, particularly in relation to the establishment of NMWAG. Through an analysis of the initiatives overseen by NMWAG it considers how empowerment is conceptualised and, therefore, also by definition, disempowerment. It suggests that empowerment is positioned as individualised in the form of neoliberal meritocratic aspiration. At the same time, however, it is collectivised in relation to religious affiliation; Islam emerges both as a source of disempowerment and as a potential solution. The thesis argues that these initiatives have worked to privilege religion at the expense of other salient axes of difference, particularly those embedded in socio economic and regional variations. Moreover, this privileging constitutes part of a broader gendered anti-Muslim racist rhetoric. Finally the thesis argues that deconstructing the trope of ‘the Muslim woman’ and attending to the differences between Muslim women opens up the possibility of building solidarities across religious boundaries and harnessing an “alternative politics of recognition”. 3 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................. 7 Acronyms and abbreviations ................................................................................ 9 CHAPTER 1 “Muslim Women: Your Country Needs You!” Gendering the UK’S ‘War on Terror? ................................................................................................. 10 Empowering Muslim Women ............................................................................ 11 1.2 Policy Landscape ......................................................................................... 13 1.2.1 Prevent and CONTEST .................................................................... 13 1.2.2 Community cohesion and ‘Britishness’ .......................................... 15 1.2.3 The War on Terror & global politics ............................................... 16 1.2.4 The Death of multiculturalism and the rise of multi-faithism ......... 18 1.3 Muslims in the UK ....................................................................................... 19 1.4 Muslim Women and Empowerment ........................................................... 20 1.4.1 Something old, something new: colonial antecedents ................... 22 1.4.2 Islam and feminism ........................................................................ 24 1.4.3 The problem with multiculturalism…and feminism ........................ 25 Summary of thesis ............................................................................................. 29 CHAPTER 2 (Mis) Representing Muslim Women: Methodological Issues.......... 34 2.1 The Research Strategy ................................................................................. 34 2.1.1 The ‘Muslim woman’ question; victims or heroines ....................... 35 2.1.2 Discursive formations; interviews and text .................................... 40 2.1.3 Locating myself in the research...................................................... 44 2.2 Implementing the Research Strategy .......................................................... 48 2.2.1 Analysing the texts ........................................................................ 48 2.2.2 The research interviews and observation....................................... 49 2.2.3 Analysing and representing the data.............................................. 53 CHAPTER 3 Gendered Nationalisms: The True Clash of Civilisations? ............... 61 3.1. A Clash of Civilisations: creating the enemy within .................................... 64 3.1.1 Them and us? ................................................................................ 65 3.1.2 The ‘right type’ of Islam ................................................................. 69 3.1.3 Creating a community.................................................................... 72 3.2 The Funeral Pyre of Multiculturalism .......................................................... 76 4 3.2.1 Saving Muslim women ................................................................... 76 3.2.2 “Veiled threats”? ........................................................................... 80 3.2.3 Empowering Muslim women to combat terrorism ......................... 84 CHAPTER 4 Tales of the City: Diversity in Diversity, Working Between and Within Local Differences............................................................................ 92 4.1 Local Inflections in Delivering a National Initiative ..................................... 97 4.1.1 A tale of three cities ....................................................................... 98 4.1.2 (not) The usual suspects .............................................................. 100 4.1.3 All for one and one for all ............................................................ 106 4.2 Local Contradictions and Useful Fictions ................................................... 109 4.2.1 What’s in a place? – Bradford and Bristol .................................... 111 4.2.2 Muslim women’s organisations; grass roots or pragmatic opportunism? ............................................................................. 120 CHAPTER 5 Giving the Silent Majority a Stronger Voice? ................................ 127 5.1 The Silent Majority? .................................................................................. 128 5.1.1 “… by their own communities” .................................................... 129 5.1.2 …by those outside it .................................................................... 132 5.2 Finding a Voice .......................................................................................... 136 5.3 (Re) presenting the Muslim Woman ......................................................... 141 5.4 Right on the Periphery .............................................................................. 149 CHAPTER 6 “As a Mother and a Muslim”: Maternalism and Neoliberal Empowerment ............................................................................... 163 6.1 As a Mother: Individualising Empowerment ............................................. 166 6.1.1 Mothers and daughters – the role models road show .................. 168 6.1.2 Mothers and sons ........................................................................ 180 6.1.3 Community barriers & communal mothering ............................... 186 CHAPTER 7 A Community of Communities: Privileging Religion ..................... 195 7.1 The Problem with Islam and Cultural Contamination ............................... 196 7.2 Building Faith Capacity and Islamic Feminism; Turning up Religious Self Confidence ........................................................................... 202 7.3 Becoming Muslim: “others do define me by my faith” ............................. 209 7.3.1 Discrimination ............................................................................. 211 7.3.2 The outcome of discrimination – siege mentality ......................... 219 7.4 Wither Solidarity? ....................................................................................

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