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Identity and the Politics of Representation: the Case of Muslim Youth in Bradford

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Identity and the Politics of Representation: the Case of Muslim Youth in Bradford IDENTITY AND THE POLITICS OF REPRESENTATION: THE CASE OF MUSLIM YOUTH IN BRADFORD Syed Muhammad Atif Imtiaz Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social Psychology London School of Economics and Political Science University of London 1 ABSTRACT What are the dialectics of the endogenisation of ‘otherness’? This thesis is a study into the interaction between social representations, identities and power in relation to South Asian, Muslim, male youth in Bradford (UK) within the historical context of the ‘Rushdie affair’. The methodology is structured in order to investigate alternative locations of the identity-representation interaction. The studies include participant observation followed by 18 interviews with ‘specialists’, a rhetorical analysis of five television programmes that were aired on national television during and on the Rushdie affair, and an examination of the manner of reception of one of these programmes through 8 focus group discussions. The findings are that ‘otherness’ and difference are central to notions of identity for South Asian Muslim male youth, as they are surrounded by representations of themselves as ‘Muslim’ and ‘Paki’. Their identities take the form of three ideal-types – ‘coconuts’, ‘rude boys’ and ‘extremists’ – which rhetorically engage differentially with the representations. The Rushdie affair is interpreted firstly as a moment of subaltern contestation of its representation through ‘identity politics’ discourse, and secondly, dialogically as both rhetorical positions (hegemonic and subaltern) attempt to psychologically distance themselves from each other – through the construction of the ‘Bradford Muslim’ on the hegemonic side. However, both positions shared techniques of rhetoric, types of discourse, and a common narrative. Furthermore, ‘identity politics’ discourse (for two of the ideal-type identities) acted as the interpretative prism through which the reception of the programme made sense in relation to, for example, the content and manner of reception, the reception of representatives and the call for strategic essentialism. The thesis shows that attempts to escape negative evaluation result in the incorporation of representations, discourses and rhetorical techniques that position identities firmly within the hermeneutics of the hegemonic discourse. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . 9 INTRODUCTION . 10 PART I THEORY 1.0. THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSLIM IDENTITY: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . 17 1.1. Representations of a local community . 18 1.1.1. The government and a local community . 18 1.1.2. A variety of stereotypes . 20 1.1.3. A forced form of labelling . 23 1.2. The development of Muslim identity . 24 1.2.1. Between two cultures . 28 1.2.2. Explaining Muslim identity . 31 1.2.2.1. Responses as strategies . 31 1.2.3. Global and historical dimensions of identity . 34 1.3. Conclusion . 35 2.0. THE DIALECTICS OF SOCIAL REPRESENTATIONS AND SOCIAL IDENTITIES . 36 2.1. The sociological turn in social psychology . 36 2.1.1. The theory of social representations . 37 2.2. The interdependence of social representations and social identity . 43 2.2.1. Social representations, social identity and positioning theory . 45 2.2.2. Representational subjugation and forms of contestation . 50 2.2.3. The social psychology of identity politics . 53 2.3. The public sphere and the identity-representation dialectic . 56 2.3.1. The media as a site of contestation . 58 2.4. Conclusion . 62 3 PART II METHODOLOGY 3.0. THE BRADFORD MUSLIM COMMUNITY AND THE ‘RUSHDIE AFFAIR’ – A CASE STUDY . 63 3.1. Muslims in Britain . 63 3.1.1. The history of Muslims in Britain . 64 3.1.2. Three Muslim communities pre-mass migration . 64 3.1.2.1. The zawiyas . 65 3.1.2.2. The Liverpool mosque and the Muslim institute . 66 3.1.2.3. The Woking Muslim mission . 67 3.1.3. Post-war mass migration . 67 3.1.3.1. The influence of Islamic debates in South Asia on the Muslim community in Britain . 68 3.2. The Muslim community in Bradford . 70 3.2.1. Institution-building for a local community . 71 3.2.2. Episodes in the political history of the Bradford Muslim community . 73 3.3. The ‘Rushdie affair’ and Muslims in Britain . 76 3.3.1. Coverage of the ‘Rushdie affair’ in the media . 78 3.3.2. A summary of an analysis of the print media’s coverage of the ‘Rushdie affair’ . 79 3.4. Conclusion . 82 4.0. PHILOSOPHY AND METHODS OF RESEARCH . 83 4.1. Methodology for a sociological form of social psychology . 83 4.1.1. Studying the community . 87 4.1.1.1. Participating in the Muslim community . 89 4.1.1.2. Topic guide and analytical framework . 90 4.1.1.3. Interviewing the specialists . 92 4.1.2. Studying the electronic media . 93 4.1.3. Studying the responses to the media . 97 4.2. Insider research . 102 4.2.1. Access and knowing the language . 102 4.2.2. Distorting effects of the act of observation . 104 4.2.3. Participant observation and insider research . 105 4.2.4. Insider research and bias . 106 4.2.5. Hegelian and Cartesian perspectives on the insider and outsider debate . 107 4 4.2.6. Race, culture and religion . 108 4.2.7. Limitations to insider research . 110 4.2.8. Ethics in social research . 111 4.2.9. Conclusion . 112 4.3. Conclusion . 112 PART III RESULTS AND ANALYSIS 5.0. REPRESENTATIONS, IDENTITIES AND DISCOURSE AMONGST BRADFORD MUSLIM YOUTH . 114 5.1. Social representations of identities . 114 5.1.1. Social representations of the ‘Paki’ and the ‘Muslim’ . 115 5.1.2. Social representations of ‘white society’ . 118 5.2. Identities as responses to stereotypes . 123 5.2.1. The ‘coconuts’ . 125 5.2.2. The ‘rude boys’ . 127 5.2.3. The ‘extremists’ . 130 5.2.4. Identities as ideal types . 132 5.3. The emergence of Muslim identity discourse . 135 5.3.1. Religion as the basis of rights discourse . 139 5.3.2. The ‘Bradford Muslim’: The social construction of radical Islam . 141 5.4. Conclusion . 145 6.0. DIALOGICAL ARGUMENTATION DURING THE ‘RUSHDIE AFFAIR’ . 149 6.1. The identification of rhetorical positions . 149 6.1.1. The liberal rhetorical position . 151 6.1.2. The Muslim rhetorical position . 157 6.2. Rhetorical positioning and social representations . .160 6.2.1. The liberal position and social representations . 160 6.2.2. The Muslim position and social representations . 161 6.3. Levels of rhetorical functioning . 162 6.4. Individualism as ideology and identity politics . 164 6.5. Common argumentative techniques across rhetorical positions . 168 5 6.6. A common narrative across rhetorical positions . 174 6.7. Conclusion . 176 7.0. DECODING REPRESENTATIONS OF THE BRADFORD MUSLIM COMMUNITY . .179 7.1. Oppositional decodings of hegemonic representations . .179 7.1.1. The media as site for assertion of hegemony . 179 7.1.2. Presenter as agent for assertion of hegemony . 181 7.2. Representation and its discontents . 184 7.2.1. Choice of quote . 184 7.2.2. Choice of topic . 185 7.2.2.1. A confirmatory manner of decoding . 187 7.2.3. Choice of representative . 188 7.2.3.1. Projection of the identity position . 193 7.2.3.2. The difficulty of strategic essentialism . 195 7.2.3.3. The internalisation of hegemonic discourse . 196 7.3. The ambivalent decoding of stereotypes . 197 7.3.1. Invalidity of stereotypes . 197 7.3.2. Validity of stereotypes . 198 7.3.3. Universality of stereotypes . 199 7.4. The contestation of representation as a political act . 202 7.5. Conclusion . 204 8.0. CONCLUSION . 208 8.1. Methodological reflections . ..
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