University of Huddersfield Repository Miah, Shamim Muslim discourses on integration and schooling Original Citation Miah, Shamim (2012) Muslim discourses on integration and schooling. Doctoral thesis, University of Huddersfield. This version is available at http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/17536/ The University Repository is a digital collection of the research output of the University, available on Open Access. Copyright and Moral Rights for the items on this site are retained by the individual author and/or other copyright owners. 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For more information, including our policy and submission procedure, please contact the Repository Team at: [email protected]. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/ MUSLIM DISCOURSES ON INTEGRATION AND SCHOOLING SHAMIM MIAH A thesis submitted to the University of Huddersfield in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Huddersfield August 2012 CONTENTS Acknowledgments Abstract 1 Translation of Arabic Words 3 Introduction 4 Part 1: Muslim Discourse, Educational Policy and Integration 1. Contours of Integration Discourse 1.0 Introduction 9 1.1 From Assimilation to Integration 11 1.2 Integration as Rhetorical Category 14 1.3 Framing Muslim: Politics of anti-Muslim Prejudice 18 1.4 Integration as Shared Values 22 1.5 Cultural Identity and Difference: The Politics of Recognition 29 1.6 Conclusion 40 2. Educational Policy, Muslims and ‘Self Segregation’ 2.0 Introduction 42 2.1 Muslim Communities and ‘self-segregation’ 44 2.2 Muslim Faith Schools and ‘self segregation’ 47 2.3 New Labour, School Academies and de-radicalisation Imperative 51 2.4 School Mergers and the Politics of ‘forced integration’ 55 2.5 Social Contact and Group Dynamics 58 2.6 Conclusion 60 3. ‘Euro-Islam’ and Muslim Discourse 3.0 Introduction 62 3.1 Overview Maqasid al-Shariah and Fiqh al Aqliya 64 3.2 Tariq Ramadan: Integration a Textual Perspective 68 3.3 Bassam Tibi: Integration as Liberal Perspective 72 3.4 Ibn Khaldun and ‘Asabiyya 78 3.5 Conclusion 90 Part 2: Methodology: Analysing discourse 4.1 Introduction 91 4.2 Positionality and Reflexivity 92 4.3 The Muslim Discourse and the Subaltern Voice 95 4.3 Analysing Discourse: Methods, Principles and Analysis 98 4.5 Interviews, Transcript and Analysis of Data 114 Research Findings (I) Part 3: Pupil Discourses: Framing mono-cultural schools 5. Debating ‘Muslim’ Mono-Cultural Schools 5.1 Introduction 126 5.2 Mono-cultural Schooling: A Deficit Model 127 5.3 Contesting ‘self-segregation’ thesis (I): State Schools 134 5.4 Contesting ‘self-segregation’ thesis (II): Muslim Faith Schools 136 5.5 Conclusion 141 6. Deconstructing binary opposites of ethnically mixed schools 6.0 Introduction 143 6.1 Mixed School Imperative: ‘you know it’s all about mixing’ 145 6.2 Doing Integration: Integration as Performance 150 6.3 ‘this is a mixed school….’ 152 6.4 Sticking Together: Constructing ‘ummahtic’ Space in School 155 6.5 Racism and Schooling: ‘at the end of the day you’re still a paki’ 164 6.6 Safety in Numbers 166 6.7 Islam and the War on Terror 169 6.8 Conclusion 175 7. Constructing Identities in schools 7.0 Introduction 177 7.1 Debating and Negotiating Identity 178 7.2 Religious and National Identity 180 7.3 British Pakistani Identity? 182 7.4 British Muslim Identity and Muslim Faith schools 186 7.5 Conclusion 189 Research Finding (II) Part 4: Parental Discourses, Integration and Schooling 8.0 Introduction 191 8.1 Embourgeoisement, Gradualism and Integration 193 8.2 Mixed Schools: Class Consciousness and Integration 198 8.3 Parental Choice: Race, Class and Faith Inter-sectionality 201 8.4 Cultural Capital and Mixed Schools 205 8.5 Parental choice and Mono-cultural Schools 210 8.6 Framing Mono-cultural Schools 215 8.7 Muslim Faith Schools and Integration: Nurturing Cultural Identity 219 8.8 Conclusion 223 Research Findings (III) Part 5: Political framing of Integration: Muslim de-construction 9.0 Introduction 225 9.1 Integration as anti-Muslim Rhetoric 226 9.2 Integration and Historical Memory in Shaping Prejudice 230 9.3 Black Muslim Convert Discourse on Integration 234 9.4 Integration as Gradual Process 236 9.5 Conclusion 239 Part 6 Interpretation of Findings: Khaldunian Sociology 10. Introduction 241 10.1 Ibn Khaldun and Group Dynamics 242 10.2 Rabi (1967) typology of ‘Asabiyya 243 10.3 ‘Asabiyya and Pupil Discourse on Schooling 248 10.4 ‘Asabiyya and Parent Discourse on Schooling 252 10.5 Conclusion 255 11. Conclusion 257 12. Bibliography 263 List of Tables: Table 1: School Academies and ‘forced integration’ 56 Table 2: Pupil Research Sample 111 Table 3: Ethnic Breakdown of Pupil Sample 112 Table 4: Parental Research Sample 113 Table 5: Jefferson Transcript Notation 117 Table 6: Analysis of Categories and Themes 119 Acknowledgments This thesis would not have been possible without the help, support and guidance from my family, teachers and friends. Over the last two decades I have been fortunate enough to benefit from advice and direction from a number of people. In particular, I would like to thank - Prof. Zia Sardar for his support and inspiration, Dr. Atif Imtiaz (Cambridge) for his time and counsel, Father Phil Summner (St Patricks Church, Oldham) for his comments on this thesis, Dr Sheikh Muhammad Mansur (Cardiff) for his help in thinking through the finer points of Maqasid al Shariah and Fiqh al Aqliya. Finally, to Dr. Virindar Kalra, (Manchester), for taking me ‘under his wings’ and guiding me through undergraduate, post-graduate and now doctoral studies – for which I am eternally grateful. Special thanks to my supervisors Prof. Mark Halstead and Dr. Paul Thomas for sharing their wealth of knowledge, experience and guidance. Thanks also to my colleague, Dr Emma Salter for her encouragement and support. My greatest debt is to my wife Shefa and my children, Talha, Musa and Hannah, without their patience and sacrifice, this thesis would not have made the light of day. Abstract Since 2001 Muslim communities in Britain have largely been governed through the educational policy framing of integration and segregation. This Manichean bio-construct sees mono-cultural ethnic schools as problematic spaces, whilst integrated schools as the liberal ideal. By drawing upon the subaltern studies approach, this study provides a space for Muslim pupils and parents to articulate their own discourses on integrated and segregated schools in Britain. In doing so, it allows Muslim communities a position of power, by giving them agency to construct their own narratives on the policy debate on integration and schooling. This thesis attempts to make sense of Muslim discourses through a theoretic interpretation drawn from Muslim intellectual history. By using Ibn Khaldun’s (d. 1406) sociological theory of ‘asabiyya this study provides a broader theoretical context to the Muslim voice. The empirical and the theoretical perspectives contained in this study attempts to make significant contributions to the study of race, religion and Muslim studies in Britain. Public policy discourses has often seen the concept of integration as a linear cultural process, with minority groups gradually adopting the social mores of the host society. Evidence presented in this study sees integration as an analytical process and not as a fixed cultural template. It shows how the concept of integration can often be used, by political actors, as a tool for anti- Muslim racism. The discourses of Muslim parents and pupils have much in common with each other, especially when rejecting the idea of self-segregation, or highlighting the importance of ‘asabiyya based on religion, but they have little in common with the public policy framing of Muslim communities. 1 Sociological studies have often demonstrated the disjuncture between public policy and lived experience. This study confirms this observation by elucidating the disconnect between political discourse of integration and lived cultural experience of Muslim communities. The discourses of Muslim communities in this study suggest a complex, paradoxical, intersectional reading of integration, which is fundamentally rooted within social constructionism. Most importantly it dismisses the integration and segregation binary, as seen within the educational framing of Muslims, whilst recognising the importance of Muslim group solidarity, or ‘asabiyya in Muslim discourse. 2 Transliteration The transliteration system adopted throughout this thesis is the ‘IJMES System’, which is the system is used by the International Journal of Middle East Studies. a, i, u = z = q = b = s = k = t = sh = l = th = Ò = m = j = Ã = n = Î = Ô = h = kh = Û = w = d = Ý = y = dh = gh = Þ = r = f = Long vowels: = Á, = Ð, = Ù Diphthong: ay = ; aw = TÁÞ marbÙÔa Has been left out with no following iÃÁfa a Has been included with following iÃÁfa at ÍurÙf shamsiyya Have been transliterated as written, rather than as pronounced. Example: al-shams TanwÐn Has been ignored unless it was necessary to use it. 3 1.0 Introduction Since the events of the 2001 riots, 9/11 and the terrorist attacks in London in 2005, we have witnessed in Western Europe a crisis in multiculturalism combined with a policy debate on integration of Muslim communities within a heightened security context. These policy debates within the last decade have played a significant role in the way in which Muslims are positioned. It is often argued that, despite Muslim community settlement in the UK since the 1960s, Muslims have failed to integrate mainstream British society.