News Media Coverage of Islam and Muslims in Australia: An Opinion Survey among Australian Muslims

Existing research has explored the ways the mainstream news media covers Muslims and Islam, but few studies have examined Muslims’ reactions to this reporting. Studies that have investigated this issue have identified that the responses of Muslims to news media coverage tend to be largely negative because of the lack of Muslim news sources, the stereotypical representation of Muslims in news coverage, the portrayal of Muslims as the enemy within, and the conflation of Muslims with terrorism. This paper further explores the attitudes of Muslims to news media coverage of Islam and Muslims by drawing on data from 14 focus groups (N?=?104 participants) conducted with Australian Muslims. Similar to previous research, findings reveal that Australian Muslims are highly critical of news media coverage of Islam and Muslims and express concern about the divisiveness that such portrayal can have for Australian society. However, the study participants also had positive comments to make about the news media. Possible solutions to negative news media portrayals of Muslims are considered.     

An exploratory study of acculturation among Muslims in Australia

Muslims constitute 2.2% of the Australian population. Given the current socio-political climate and the limited research, the present exploratory study explores the relationship between acculturation, ethnic identity, self-identity, generational status, religiosity, and demographics among adult Australian Muslims.

A cross-sectional convenience sample of 324 adult Australian Muslims completed either online or paper-based questionnaires in either English or Arabic. Recruitment was via convenience sampling and social media advertisements. Acculturation, ethnic identity (MEIM), religiosity, and demographic variables were measured.

The study sample was young and mostly female, with high religiosity levels. Acculturation was negatively correlated with ethnic identity. From multiple regression analysis, acculturation was predicted independently by religiosity (low), age (young), gender (male) and ethnic identity (low).

First generation Australian Muslims were older, had stronger ethnic identity and religiosity, and more commonly self-identified as non-Australian. By contrast second- and third-generation were more likely to self-identify as bicultural or Australian.

In summary, acculturation of Australian Muslims is influenced by multiple variables, particularly ethnic identity, religiosity, and generation; hence all these variables need to be included in policy regarding successful integration of migrants.     

中国、美国与波斯湾各国互动关系透视

中国以能源为纽带,建立了与波斯湾各国相互依存、平等共赢的国际关系。海湾各国出于平衡美国霸权和确保能源销售市场的目的,积极发展与中国全方位、多层次的关系。中国的外交模式在海湾越来越具有吸引力,中美在海湾形成竞争多于合作的格局。但中国不挑战美国的霸权地位,更愿意当配角。     

流动穆斯林与大城市回族社区——以南京、上海等城市为例

本文从群体互动的视角研究了流动穆斯林与大城市回族社区的相互关系。本文认为,流动穆斯林大量进入大城市给回族社区带来了重要影响:(1)增加宗教氛围;(2)为清真寺职能发挥提供物质支持;(3)协助实现有效的社会管理;(4)解决"清真饮食难"问题;(5)改善文化结构,促进城市的经济社会发展。同时大城市回族社区也在几个方面影响了流动穆斯林:(1)职业结构发生较大变化,经济收入明显增加;(2)为流动穆斯林提供生存空间;(3)提供宗教功课和文化交流的场所和平台;(4)促使流动穆斯林自身实现文化转型;(5)相对在家乡而言部分流动穆斯林宗教生活淡化。总之,流动穆斯林促进了大城市回族社区和整个城市的经济、文化发展,同时也适应了城市生活方式,促进了自身的现代化。     

Education and Employment among Muslims in Indian Jammu and Kashmir

Muslims constitute about 14% population of India and are the largest religious minority community spread over the length and breadth of the country. The minority community in question has been relegated to the lowest socio-economic stratum in Indian society especially after the partition and independence of the country. However, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, Muslims are in majority constituting about 67% population of the state. In the current study, the Concentration Index of Muslim population, variation in literacy rate and work participation, occupational structure across region and religion, as well as the interrelationship between concentration of Muslim population, literacy rate and work participation in Jammu and Kashmir has been explored and explained. The present study is based upon secondary information obtained from Census 2001 and is also supplemented with government reports, published work wherever necessary. As far as share of Muslims in the sphere of education and employment in the state of Jammu and Kashmir is concerned, they have reported lower share among the population of literates, category of other workers and higher share in the occupational category of cultivators, agricultural labourers, household industry workers and non-workers in comparison to all religious groups. This means that despite being in majority, their situation is similar to their co-religionists at the all India level.     

Back to the future: religious mobility among Danish Pakistani Sufi Muslims

ABSTRACT

Pakistani migrant families in Denmark are embedded in a transnational social field, one that stretches between the rural villages in Punjab that they left behind in the 1960s and 1970s, and their new home in greater Copenhagen. However, the upcoming generation, born and raised in Denmark, often has an ambivalent relationship with the homeland of their parents. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Sufi tariqa(order, path) called Naqshbandi Mujaddidi Saifi, this article explores how the ritual of ‘zikr Allah’ (the commemoration of God) provides an opportunity for the Copenhagen Saifis to cultivate new connections with Pakistan, beyond the kinship networks and the family village of origin. The ritual is significant for their aspiration to become pious Muslims. In this process, Pakistan comes to be ascribed with new meanings. Whereas the parents’ generation associated Pakistan with family and kin, property, houses, and power connected to the village of origin, these pious Saifis begin to associate Pakistan with spirituality, purity, and love for their shaykh in particular and the Sufi tariqa in general.     

Uncertain aspirations: Latino students and dropout in the United States

ABSTRACT

Latinos are one of the fastest growing and most racially diverse students in American schools. Driven by immigration, they account for more than 24% of the kindergarten to high school population. Despite their numbers, the achievement gap between Latinos and their non-Latino peers remains wide since they have the highest rate of dropout. Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, we find that Latino students who attend more than one school during their academic career are more likely to dropout than those who do not. We also find lower rates of dropout among children of parents who stated that they did not have difficulties interacting with school administrators due to language barriers. With regards to migration, we do not find immigrant status to be significant in dropout – a noteworthy effect given the increases in raids and deportation by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.     

美国家庭学校课程与教学述评

近年来,美国在家上学的人数不断增加,较高的教育教学质量受到教育界和社会公众的认可与关注.个性化的课程和教学方式是家庭学校成功的重要因素.家庭学校充分发挥了隐性课程的作用,加之灵活的教学方式,适应了学生的发展需要.借鉴美国的成功经验,对于我国家庭学校的良性发展具有重要意义.     

城市社会管理中的“两个不适应”——基于武汉、广州、南京、义乌等地流动穆斯林调查的思考

当前流动穆斯林难以适应城市社会管理的要求,同时城市社会管理部门也不适应流动穆斯林的社会管理需要,这是导致城市社会管理中矛盾冲突不断,影响社会安全的不和谐因素。因此,应当加强两者的交流与互动、建立社会安全阀制度、发挥伊斯兰教协会的协调作用,不断消解两个不适应,促进城市社会的健康和谐发展。     

第二届中国-东盟博览会翻译质量调查研究

通过问卷调查和访谈的方式对第二届中国-东盟博览会的外语翻译质量进行了调查与研究.认为外语作为博览会中外来宾、客商沟通的桥梁,为各国官员、贵宾、参展商及采购商提供优良的外语服务环境,是办好博览会的关键之一.为此,对博览会翻译质量的重视与研究,将会为博览会今后的发展提供更广阔的空间.     

美国藏学的历史、现状和未来

在这篇论文中,作者绘制了一幅美国藏学历史和现状的全景图,并厘清美国藏学家的师承关系,揭示这一学科的发展脉络,同时分析美国藏学存在的问题,认为路径依赖的存在导致藏传佛教研究在藏学界独大的局面。进一步的,作者评估了美国藏学发展的未来趋势,指出藏传佛教研究的优势地位不会在短期改变。     

Racial Formation in Theory and Practice: The Case of Mexicans in the United States

Mechanisms of social stratification require the categorical definition of an out-group to that can be excluded and exploited. Historically, in the United States, African Americans have been the subject of a systematic process of racial formation to define socially in this fashion. Beginning in the 1970s, however, and accelerating in the 1980s and 1990s, Mexicans were increasingly subject to processes of racialization that have rendered them more exploitable and excludable than ever before. Over the past decade, Mexican Americans moved steadily away from their middle position in the socioeconomic hierarchy and gravitated toward the bottom. This paper describes the basic mechanisms of stratification in the United States and how Mexicans have steadily been racialized to label them socially as a dehumanized and vulnerable out-group.     

Social identity in the modern United States Virgin Islands

The United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is a complex society with multiple diverse ethnic groups: Black Virgin Islanders, Eastern Caribbean islanders, Puerto Ricans, Spanish Dominicans, French Islanders, Americans (Continentals), Arabs and Asians. These ethnic differences as well as United States cultural imperialism have stymied any uniform Virgin Islands identity. Even though various ethnic groups share fundamental social characteristics, they nonetheless maintain their institutional and cultural differences. Continuous migration from the world over and out-migration of ‘native’ Virgin Islanders have led to ethnic particularism that undermines a contemporary common island identity. Nonetheless, social identity in the USVI can be conceptualized into the bi-level structural analysis of national and trans-Caribbean.