Islam in the Hinterlands
Muslim communities have become increasingly salient in the social, cultural, and political landscape in Canada largely due to the aftermath of 9/11 and the racial politics of the ongoing “war on terror” that have cast Muslims as the new “enemy within.” Islam in the Hinterlands features some of Canada’s top Muslim Studies scholars who chart the politically charged struggle for equality by our country’s fastest-growing religious group. Through the lenses of race, religion, and gender, they examine how gender, public policy, media, and education shape the Muslim experience in Canada. This book takes a distinctly anti-racist, feminist standpoint in exploring the reality of the Muslim diaspora while touching on much-debated issues, such as the shar’ia controversy, veiling in public schools, media portrayals of Muslims, and anti-terrorism legislation. Featuring empirical studies as well as critical essays, the writing in this book is enhanced by the contributors’ lived experiences as Muslim Canadians. An undeniably timely volume, it will be essential reading for academics as well as general interested in Islamic studies, multiculturalism, and social justice.
Islam in the Hinterlands will be of interest to scholars and students of Canadian Muslim Studies, sociology, cultural studies, gender studies, and politics.
I cannot think of a religious community more in need of study than Canadian Muslims, who have, until now, received scant scholarly attention. This book examines the hybridity of Canadian Islam, and discusses the various ways in which Muslims have, and have not, adapted to their contexts. Timely and cutting-edge, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of religion, sociology, and anthropology, as well as cultural, legal, and gender studies.
Introduction: Muslim Cultural Politics in the Canadian Hinterlands / Jasmin Zine
Part 1: Gender and Cultural Politics
1 Unsettling the Nation: Gender, Race, and Muslim Cultural Politics in Canada / Jasmin Zine
2 The Great Canadian “Shar’ia” Debate / Itrath Syed
3 Toward a Framework for Investigating Muslim Women and Political Engagement in Canada / Katherine Bullock
Part 2: Media and Representation
4 Colluding Hegemonies: Constructing the Muslim Other Post-9/11 / Yasmin Jiwani
5 Marketing Islamic Reform: Dissidence and Dissonance in a Canadian Context / Meena Sharify-Funk
6 Toward Media Reconstruction of the Muslim Imaginary in Canada: The Case of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Sitcom Little Mosque on the Prairie / Alia Dakroury
Part 3: Education
7 From Mosques to Madrassas: Civic Engagement and the Pedagogy of Islamic Schools / Nadeem Memon
8 Unveiled Sentiments: Gendered Islamophobia and Experiences of Veiling Among Muslim Girls in a Canadian Islamic School / Jasmin Zine
Part 4: Security
9 The Security Certificate Exception: A Media Analysis of Human Rights and Security Discourses in Canada’s Globe and Mail and National Post / Jacqueline Flatt
10 The Anti-terrorism Act and National Security: Safeguarding the Nation against Uncivilized Muslims / Shaista Patel
Index
Beyond Accommodation
Everyday Narratives of Muslim Canadians
By Jennifer Selby, Amelie Barras, and Lori G. Beaman
