New ethnicities and old classities: respectability and diaspora

This article explores the contrasts between the flexibility and openness of interethnic and diasporic identifications and the fixity of class distinctions in contemporary Britain. The author draws on fieldwork conducted in the Midlands area and a suburban town in the south east of England and traces the ways in which project participants mobilised their biographies and ancestries to express feelings of empathy and relatedness across black, white and Asian identities. The author discovered the same people articulated a strong sense of classed distinction between themselves and others who were thought to lack respectability, social ambition and mobility. These observations have led me to reflect upon the theoretical contrasts between what Stuart Hall has famously called ‘new ethnicities’ and what the author calls ‘old classities’.     

Perceptions of the processes of radicalisation and de-radicalisation among British South Asian Muslims in a post-industrial city

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study exploring the perceptions of British South Asian Muslims in relation to the pathways towards radicalisation and the challenges of community leadership in relation to de-radicalisation. The study is based on in-depth interviews, using an ethnographic methodological framework, with a purposive sample of 30 Muslim men and women, including senior political figures, community leaders, religious figures and young Muslims (aged 18–25) from across the city of Birmingham, UK. The fieldwork was carried out between September 2005 and May 2007. Respondents reflected a general perspective that regards social exclusion, Islamophobia, lack of effective theological and political leadership, regressive anti-terror law and geo-political events as principal factors in the radicalisation and the de-radicalisation of British Muslims. These findings provide important insights into Muslims in Britain in relation to questions of ‘radicalism’ and politics, and they have specific implications for research, policy and practice in this area.     

Under the cloak of professionalism: covert racism in teacher education

This study focuses on manifestations of racism and colonialism in teacher education. I build on the theoretical framing of Critical Race Theory and decolonization in order to expose racist and colonial assumptions at the core of teacher education. I highlight in particular the work of covert racism under the cloak of teachers’ professionalism. I focus on what I call ‘professional microaggressions’: subtle forms of racism and colonialism hidden beneath professional definitions. By interviewing graduates of a well-established Indigenous teacher education program in British Columbia, Canada, I examine the mechanisms that still hinder the success of Indigenous teacher candidates in teacher education and in the school system. The study highlights the resilience, resistance, and strategic planning that Indigenous teachers use to challenge the system while advancing their position within it. Lastly, I suggest ways to support Indigenous teacher candidates in teacher education.     

Muslims and Minority Politics in Great Britain

This paper reviews the history of immigration and demographics of British Muslims and analyzes the relevant characteristics that influence their political representation in the country. Such factors include immigration patterns, demographic characteristics of Muslim groups and coalition versus group competition trends, political mobilization patterns, the politics of race, and the dynamics of party–minority relations. The paper also provides original data on elected Muslims in British local and national government and examines the electoral power, political identity, social behavior, civic and political participation, and representation of Muslims in the larger British community.     

‘Really really different different’: rurality,regional schools and refugees

Abstract

This article explores the dynamics of difference-making in a regional Australian town. Despite Australia’s high levels of cultural diversity, many rural and regional areas remain predominantly ‘white’ spaces, presided over by people of Anglo-Celtic ancestry but with small populations of indigenous Australians. Over the past decade, however, a growing number of regional centres have become home to refugees from a range of African, Middle Eastern and South-East Asian countries. This study draws on interview, observational and documentary data to shed light on the experiences of people in one such town, focusing on schools as sites of everyday social contact and significant mediators of identity formation and settlement outcomes. A key aim of the article is to illuminate the ways in which constructions of rurality and of difference intersect with local histories and resources to shape relations between the original, ‘old’ and newest settlers.     

‘I grew a beard and my dad flipped out!’ Co-option of British Muslim parents in countering ‘extremism’ within their families in Bradford and Leeds

Research on the effects of counter-terrorism has argued that Muslims are constructed as a ‘suspect community’. However, there remains a paucity of research exploring divisive effects membership to a ‘suspect community’ has on relations within Muslim families. Drawing from interviews conducted in 2010–2011 with British Muslims living in Bradford or Leeds, I address this gap by examining how co-option of Muslim parents to counter extremism fractures relations within Muslim families. I show that internalising fears of their children being radicalised or indeed radicalising others, means parents judge young Muslims’ religious practices through a restrictive moderate/extremist binary. I advance the category of ‘internal suspect body’ which is materialised through two intersecting conditions: the suspected Muslim extremist to lookout for and young Muslims at risk of radicalisation. I delineate the reproductive effects of terrors of counter-terrorism on Muslims’ experiences as they traverse state, intra-group and individual levels.     

Muslims as Victims of Security Dilemma in the West

Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in the world, and Muslims are the fastest-growing ethnocultural minority communities in the Western world. However, Muslims, especially living in Western countries, have increasingly become the victim of a contemporary form of racism and xenophobia—that is Islamophobia. Survey reports conducted across Western nations have underlined the fact that a significant number of respondents are critical of the Muslim minority community and that this negative trend poses a challenge for these Muslim minorities’ ethnocultural freedom and equality. Today, mainstream Muslims in the West are victims of both Islamic State of Iraq and Syria-like terrorism and Islamophobics. Within this context, this study analyses the causal relationship between the West’s sense of insecurity and Islamophobia through the lens of the realist concept of security dilemma using a qualitative approach.     

Making the “Other” from “Us”: The Representation of British Converts to Islam in Mainstream British Newspapers

There is now a great deal of literature that shows how Islam and Muslims are routinely represented in negative ways in the mainstream newspapers. With overt or covert reliance on Orientalist discourse, discourses of cultural clash and extremism, including terror, are prevalent. Not only are Muslims less likely to feature in “normal” stories, abuse and prejudice against them is also more unlikely to constitute “news”. British converts to Islam have only recently begun to receive more focused attention, both in academia and in the mainstream press. Occupying a unique position in respect to the idea of the “other” and of integration in a multicultural society, converts offer a powerful point of critique of these concepts. The aim of this study is to understand how and in what discourses British converts to Islam are represented, and thereby contribute empirical knowledge to these theoretical concerns.     

Sino-Muslim Relations: The Han,the Hui,and the Uyghurs

Sino-Muslim relations rest upon an informal socio-spatial hierarchy according to which some Muslim groups are more of an asset and others more of a liability. In this informal hierarchy, Hui Muslims are closer to the center than any other Muslim group because they are Sinicized, seen as religiously moderate, and mostly live in proximity to non-Muslim Chinese neighbors. Central Asian Muslims, most notably Xinjiang’s Uyghurs, are more distant from China’s notional center and seen as culturally more alien and prone to religious extremism. This article discusses the historical roots of this socio-spatial hierarchy and systematically examines Sino-Muslim relations in political, economic, and societal terms. It concludes that, despite problematic features from a western-liberal perspective, the hierarchy continues to enable the Chinese majority to manage a set of otherwise challenging relationships.     

‘Official’ discourses of race and racism: inclusion,intent and inversion mediated within journalistic communiqués vis-à-vis the Australian indigenous athlete

In May 2008, I wrote to the editor of a Melbourne newspaper pointing out that an article discussing differences between two superstars of the Australian Football League (AFL), one white (team oriented) and the other black (self oriented), conformed to racial dualism of intellect and instinct. My inquiry regarding the rejection of my letter began a process of correspondence which was instructive for unearthing a philosophy of racism defined by ‘intent’ to be ‘racist’. This article presents a case study of editorial correspondence to argue the inverting of race and racism. Racial difference now marks equality not inequality. The author draws on critical race theory to claim that racial hierarchies embedded within celebratory discourses of inclusion, in response to journalistic defence of objectivity, mark the changing significance of race and racism.     

‘How I show up for Brown and Black students’: Asian American male mathematics teachers seeking solidarity

ABSTRACT

The ratio of Asian American teachers to Asian American students is the most disproportionate of all racial groups, where Asian American students are least likely to have an Asian American teacher. In addition, little research focuses on the experiences of Asian American teachers, particularly in connection with issues of racism. Using AsianCrit, internalized racism, and stereotype management, this study investigates how Asian American male mathematics teachers conceptualize their racial/ethnic and mathematics teacher identities given the prevalence of the Model Minority Myth. Using photovoice interviews, findings indicate that participants experienced internalized racism and engaged in stereotype management by distancing themselves from other Asian Americans, discussing their own difficulties in mathematics, and actively reaching out to form relationships with Black and Latinx students. We recommend supports for Asian American teachers and all teachers of color to build critical consciousness to reduce internalized racism and empower themselves and their students.     

Love thy neighbour? Exploring prejudice against ethnic minority groups in a divided society: the case of Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland has seen a rise in racially motivated crimes and incidents reported to police in recent years and, although this has been accompanied by intensified media coverage, this phenomenon has been the subject of relatively little research. The purpose of this study is to evaluate empirically three theories that have been proposed to explain prejudice towards ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland; economic self-interest, social contact, and ‘sectarianism as racism’. Using the 2013 Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, which contains new questions on contact with ethnic minorities, this study looks at attitudes towards Eastern Europeans, Muslims and a third category of ‘other ethnic groups’. Results from multivariate linear regression provide evidence for all three theories but also show that the strength and significance of predictive variables for prejudice vary across the minority groups. The findings that there are different motivations for prejudice towards different groups can inform policies to tackle racism in Northern Ireland.     

Racism and linguicism: engaging language minority pre-service teachers in counter-storytelling

Abstract

This study examines how language minority pre-service teachers engaged in the discussion of racism and linguicism through counter-storytelling informed by Critical Race Theory (CRT). Counter-stories can act as a medium through which minority students can unpack the power relations embedded in academic learning. This study also explores ways in which having a language minority teacher educator with a similar background facilitated the discussion of race and native speaker status. Drawing on co-teaching experience with a white teacher educator, I suggest that the teaching of race and language be not only about racialized and linguistic identity of instructors, but pedagogical approaches and strategies through counter-stories that actively foster critical reflection on power imbalance inherent in schools.     

Deconstructing Racial Democracy: A Personal Quest to Understand Social Conditioning about Race Relations in Brazil

Although considerable work has been done about racial democracy in Brazil, scant information is available regarding the mechanisms by which social conditioning related to the myth of racial democracy is reproduced among those in power. In order to better understand race relations in Brazil, we must include perceptions of those who are in power. I was born and raised by a white, privileged family in a traditional Brazilian state. My family comes from a long line of coffee growers who have always interacted with many oppressed African Brazilian employees. As a privileged white Brazilian woman I have wide access to white privileged Brazilians and I can provide a unique perspective on race relations in Brazil. This auto-ethnographic research project used ethnomethodology and visual ethnography to answer the following research questions: 1) What are the assumptions about race relations in Brazil held by me, my family, and those African Brazilians who interact directly or indirectly with my family and me? 2) How do these assumptions influence my subjective understanding of and responses related to race relations in Brazil? 3) How do these assumptions influence the interactions between myself, my family, and those African Brazilians who interact directly or indirectly with my family and me? Data included journal entries, an in-depth interview of my life history, and photographs collected over 40 days in a traditional state in Brazil. Data analysis identified five main themes: 1) blackness versus whiteness; 2) gender, power and sexuality; 3) mechanisms maintaining practices that reproduce oppression; 4) power of social conditioning; and 5) normative expressions of agency against racial democracy ideology.     

The ‘new Chinatown’: the racialization of newly arrived Chinese migrants in Singapore

Studies of racism tend to rely on a presumed dichotomy between whites and ‘Others,’ whether Black or Asian. Even as many scholars have established that whiteness is manufactured, ethnographic studies of racism still have not escaped the color paradigm, basing their studies on the enactment of racism by white people on Others. Using the case study of Singapore, this article challenges the color paradigm by exploring racism between co-ethnic Chinese. I show that Singapore’s modernity is highly tied to place and that the ‘new Chinatown’ is used to ‘place’ and racialize newly arrived Chinese migrants. The racialization discourse, in this case, is subtle, and renders it a form of new racism - one that is reinforced by the media as well as state structures inherited from the nation’s colonial past. The aims of the article are two-fold: first, the paper aims to show parallels between the racialization of Chinese migrants in Singapore and colonial racism. However, this is not to say that locals are merely emulating colonial discourse which leads to the second aim of the paper: to locate this particular racialization process as a product of the intersection of global capital with Singapore’s local modernity. I conclude that although Singaporean-Chinese may enact racism against Chinese migrants, they do not hold unimpeded power. Rather, Singaporean-Chinese' construction of a ‘new Chinatown’ ironically acts to displace them.     

What They Really Want Is a Caliphate! British Salafi Reactions to the Arab Spring

This contribution discusses the lack of references to the success of Salafi parties in the Middle East after the Arab Spring, in Egypt especially, by groups who self-identify as Salafi outside the Middle East. In their interpretation of the uprisings known as the Arab Spring, British Salafis have emphasised that Arab Muslim populations in the Middle East want an Islamic Caliphate despite cries for liberal rights and democracy. The aim of this contribution is to provide a theoretical frame for analysing a type of European Salafism on the rise preoccupied with establishing “Sharia Zones” and controlling fellow Muslims’ observance of Islamic principles in British cities but with little interest in political developments in Muslim majority countries. Rather than working for political influence, the British so-called Salafis in al-Muhajiroun are preoccupied with defining a place of their own in their European context. Thus, the argument is that in order to understand current Salafi-inspired movements in the Middle East and Europe, it is necessary to analyse practice, rhetorical expressions and political context rather than how various groups self-identify.     

Portrayal of Muslims Following the Murders of Lee Rigby in Woolwich and Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham: A Content Analysis of UK Newspapers

In 2013, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale murdered a British soldier, named Lee Rigby in Woolwich, south-east London. In the aftermath of the incident, evidence showed Muslims had become targets for a rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes.¹1. ACPO, “True Vision Records”, 2013. Available at: http://www.reportit.org.uk/true_vision_records_a_significant_weekly_reduct (accessed 2 September 2014).View all notes Most notably, mosques had been reported to have been burnt down and graffiti with messages of hate scrawled against the walls. In such times, the role of the media is crucial in projecting a balanced approach. This study analysed newspaper coverage three weeks from the Woolwich attacks and examined the language and headlines used to describe Muslims. Over 1022 articles from UK newspapers were reviewed using the Nexis database utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the media narrative regarding Muslims and also make a comparative analysis of how the media reported on the case of Mohammed Saleem who was murdered by the far right extremist, Pavlo Lapshyn. The newspaper articles were analysed by using the computer software NVivo to search for and identify patterns across the articles in order to give an idea of the most frequent ways that Muslims were being portrayed. This paper found that news coverage had generalised about Muslims which was made in an overtly prejudicial way.     

Racial segregation and the limits of international undergraduate student diversity

This study challenges the assertion that the influx of Asian international undergraduate students in universities across the United States creates richer educational and social environments. Drawing on qualitative research at a public university with a large number of Asian international students, this article examines how Asian American student leaders and their organization took on the difficult institutional task of actualizing the diversity of these new students in a racially segregated campus. We found that instead of viewing racial segregation practices as possibly tied to racial discrimination and privileges of normative whiteness, students expressed both support and resistance to Asian international students in race-neutral language of comfort and organizational differences that reflects the dominant ideology of colorblindness. We argue that any claims to the benefits of international student diversity must take serious account of colorblind racism and the experiences of racial marginalization and racial segregation among domestic minority and international students.     

Sensing cities: the politics of migrant sensescapes

This paper explores the sensory misconduct of foreign workers in Singapore as identified by local residents in neighborhoods across the island city. Urban bodies and sensory differentiation form the focal point of discussion, given that complaints about sensory disturbances are sociocultural expressions of rejection which are connected to power relations in the city. I focus on two cases that have been identified from my research on Singapore newspaper archives dating between the 1800s and the present-day context. Employing the notion of transnational urbanism, the paper deliberates upon urban sensory politics in Singapore and shows how urban spaces are sensorially politicized by different groups through content analysis of media reports. By considering both historical and contemporary transnationalism, the paper contributes to further understandings on urbanity, migration, and sensory studies.     

Understanding the role of schools in the Asian-white gap: a seasonal comparison approach

Asian Americans are the most highly educated racial group in the United States and are commonly heralded as the model minority for their high academic success. Nevertheless, previous research suggests that Asian Americans may face certain disadvantages in school settings. For example, Asian Americans’ academic advantage over non-Hispanic white students diminishes between kindergarten entry and the next several years of schooling. This study provides a closer examination of the educational progress of Asian American students compared to white students through a seasonal comparison approach. Using the Northwest Evaluation Association, we analyze reading and math scores for over 130,000 Asian American and white students in grades K-7 in approximately 675 public schools across the US. We find that Asian Americans have higher academic achievement than white students in general, but that these advantages are maintained primarily through faster rates of learning during the summer months. When school is in session, the Asian advantage either remains unchanged or shrinks, consistent with the view that some school processes undermine the educational progress of Asian American students relative to white students.