Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Identity and Upbringing in South Asian Muslim Families

  • 329 Accesses

Abstract

This book has a twofold focus in exploring both identity and practices of upbringing in South Asian (those with Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian ethnic backgrounds) Muslim families in Britain. It looks at the everyday lives, relationships, values, beliefs and aspirations of South Asian Muslim teenagers who were mostly born in the UK, and of their parents, who instead grew up and became adults elsewhere—either in Bangladesh, India or Pakistan.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Please note all names have been changed into pseudonyms to protect the identity of participants. A full list of pseudonyms is provided in Appendix 1.

  2. 2.

    Please note the quotes are direct transcriptions from interviews with research participants. Generally they have not been edited, and minor editing was applied only when strictly required to make certain extracts clearer. Most edits consisted of adding missing words (often the subject of the verb) which will appear in square brackets, based on text which was not reported, but part of the same interview. Grammar, the use of slang or abbreviations were not changed.

  3. 3.

    The O Level (Ordinary Level) was the British school leaving qualifi cation which predated the GCSE. Note: GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) is the secondary school exam taken at 16 years old in the UK. The O Level (Ordinary Level) was the British school leaving qualification which predated the GCSE.

  4. 4.

    Hijab is the headscarf used by Muslim women to cover the hair.

  5. 5.

    The interview sample includes 52 individual interviews, which account for 15 families (where parents and young persons were separately interviewed) and some extra interviews with young people whose parents could not be reached. The survey sample includes 560 questionnaires. Please see Appendix for more details.

  6. 6.

    The Runnymede Trust is an independent think tank devoted to the cause of promoting racial justice in Britain. The Runnymede Trust established the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, whose chair was Bhikhu Parekh.

  7. 7.

    ONS (2013), Full story: What does the Census tell us about religion in 2011? http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_310454.pdf

  8. 8.

    As in my own Table from Census 2011.

  9. 9.

    An independent British charity that conducts social research on the causes of poverty and disadvantage in order to inform policy and practice. http://www.jrf.org.uk/about

  10. 10.

    Social mobility here is intended as the class transitions from origins to destinations. Please note Platt’s analysis (2005) is based on the ONS Longitudinal Study and Bangladeshis were not included in the analysis.

  11. 11.

    Uganda was a British protectorate from 1896 to 1962. In 1971, strong nationalist policies following a military coup under the command of Idi Amin led to the expulsion of 80,000 Ugandan Asians. Britain agreed to resettle about 28,600 of the expelled Ugandan Asians (Gilliat-Ray 2010).

  12. 12.

    See Appendix 1 for details on the backgrounds of the families.

  13. 13.

    See Appendix 1 for the outline of the topic guides.

  14. 14.

    Only three parents were interviewed with the help of an interpreter. These were Davar’s mother, Sakina’s father and Tahir’s mother (only at the beginning of the interview). A few parents refused to take part because they did not feel comfortable with their English language skills.

References

  • Anwar, M. (1979). The Myth of Return: Pakistanis in Britain. London: Heinemann.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer, L. (2001). ‘Muslim brothers, black lads, traditional asians’: british muslim young men’s constructions of race, religion and masculinity. Feminism and Psychology, 11(1), 79–105.

    Google Scholar 

  • Archer, L. (2002). Change, culture and tradition: british muslim pupils talk about muslim girls’ post-16’ choices’. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 5(4), 359–376.

    Google Scholar 

  • Back, L. (1996/2002). New Ethnicities and Urban Culture. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basit, T. N. (1997a). Eastern values, Western Milieu: Identities and aspirations of adolescent British Muslim girls. Aldershot: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Basit, T. N. (1997b). ‘I want more freedom, but not too much’: British Muslim girls and the dynamism of family values. Gender and Education, 9(4), 425–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becher, H. (2008). Family practices in South Asian Muslim families. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Berg, M. L., & Eckstein, S. (2015). Introduction: Reimagining migrant generations. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 18(1), 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bhabha, H. K. (1994). The Location of Culture. New York/London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Birdwell, J. B. a. J. (2010). From suspects to citizens: preventing violent extremism in a big society. London: Demos.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1990). The Logic of Practice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1998). The family spirit. In P. Bourdieu (Ed.), Practical Reason. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P., & Wacquant, L. J. D. (1992). An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyatzis, R. E. (1998). Transforming Qualitative Information. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brah, A. (1996). Cartographies of Diaspora, Contesting Identities. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brannen, J. (2006). Cultures of intergenerational transmission in four-generation families. The Sociological Review, 54(1), 133–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brannen, J., & Nilsen, A. (2006). From fatherhood to fathering: Transmission and change among British fathers in four-generation families. Sociology, 40(2), 335–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brubaker, R. (2005). The ‘diaspora’ diaspora. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 28(1), 1–19. doi:10.1080/0141987042000289997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brubaker, R., & Cooper, F. (2000). Beyond “identity”. Theory and Society, 29(1), 1–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casciani, D. (7 June 2011). Preventing violent extremism: A failed policy? BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13686586

  • Centre on Dynamics on Ethnicity (CoDE). (2013a). Ethnic inequalities in labour market participation? Report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), September 2013. Manchester: University of Manchester. http://equanomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/CoDE-Employment-Census-Briefing.pdf

  • Centre on Dynamics on Ethnicity (CoDE). (2013b). Have ethnic inequalities in employment persisted between 1991 and 2001? Report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), September 2013. Manchester: The University of Manchester. http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/have-ethnic-inequalities-in-employment-persisted-between-1991-2011%20%281%29.pdf

  • Centre on Dynamics on Ethnicity (CoDE). (2013c). How are educational inequalities in education changing? Report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), March 2014. Manchester: The University of Manchester. http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/how-are-ethnic-inequalities-in-education-changing.pdf

  • Centre on Dynamics on Ethnicity (CoDE). (2013d). Which ethnic groups have the poorest health? Report for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), October 2013. Manchester: The University of Manchester. http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/which-ethnic-groups-have-the-poorest-health.pdf

  • Connolly, K. (2010). Angela Merkel declares death of German multiculturalism. The Guardian 17 Oct 2010. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/oct/17/angela-merkel-germany-multiculturalism-failures

  • Coté, J. E., & Levine, C. G. (2002). Identity formation, agency and culture. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crick, B. (1998). Education for citizenship and the teaching of democracy in schools. London: DfEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, L. (2009). Educating against extremism: Towards a critical politicisation of young people. International Review of Education, 55(2–3), 183–203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Freytas-Tamura K,. (2015) Teenage Girl Leaves for ISIS, and Others Follow. The New York Times. February 24, 2015. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/world/from-studious-teenager-to-isis-recruiter.html?_r=0

  • Dobbs, J., Green, H. & Zealey, L. (2006). Focus on Ethnicity and Religion. Basingstoke, Hampshire & New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, C. (1999). Contradictions of community: questions of identity for young British Muslim women. Environment and Planning, 31(1), 53–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, C. (2000). Negotiating diasporic identities: Young British south Asian Muslim women. In Women’s studies international forum (4th ed., Vol. 23, pp. 475–486). Oxford: Pergamon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dwyer, C., Shah, B., & Sanghera, G. (2008). From cricket lover to terror suspect–Challenging representations of young British Muslim men. Gender, Place and Culture, 15(2), 117–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity youth and crisis. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ewick, P., & Silbey, S. (2003). Narrating social structure: Stories of resistance to legal Authority. American Journal of Sociology, 108(6), 1328–1372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franceschelli, M. (2013). South Asian young British Muslims: Identity, habitus and the family field. Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franceschelli, M., & O’Brien, M. (2014). Islamic capital and family life: The role of Islam in parenting. Sociology, 48(6), 1190–1206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franceschelli, M., & O’Brien, M. (2015). ‘Being modern and modest’: South Asian young British Muslims negotiating multiple influences on their identity. Ethnicities, 15(5), 696–714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franceschelli, M., Evans, K., & Schoon, I. (2016). ‘A fish out of water?’ The therapeutic narratives of class change. Current Sociology, 64(3), 353–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilliat-Ray, S. (2010). Muslims in Britain an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Goldsmith, Q. C. (2008). Citizenship: Our common bond. London: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S. (1991). Old and new identities, old and new ethnicities. In A. D. King (Ed.), Culture, globalization and the world-system (pp. 41–68). Basingstoke: Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Haque, Z., & Bell, J. F. (2001). Evaluating the Performances of Minority Ethnic Pupils in Secondary Schools, Oxford Review of Education, 21(2), 357–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haw, K. F. (1996). Exploring the educational experiences of Muslim girls: Tales told to tourists—should the white researcher stay at home? British Educational Research Journal, 22(3), 319–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hine, J. (2008). Children and Citizenship. London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, S. (1997). The Clash of Civilizations and the World Order. New York: Simon & Susher.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, R. (2002). Pierre Bourdieu. London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, R. (2006). Social identity. Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kibria, N. (2015). Diaspora diversity: Bangladeshi Muslims in Britain and the United States. Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, 18(1), 138–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahire, B. (2003). From the habitus to an individual heritage of dispositions. Towards a sociology at the level of the individual. Poetics, 31(5), 329–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2002). Invisible inequality: Social class and childrearing in black families and white families. American Sociological Review, 67, 747–776.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lareau, A. (2011). Unequal childhood: Class, race and family life (2nd ed.). Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, V. (2007). Converging at last? France, Britain and their minorities. In T. Modood & G. Raymond (Eds.), The construction of ethnic minorities identities. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, P. (2007). Young, British and Muslim. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mahmood, S. (2001). Rehearsed spontaneity and the conventionality of ritual: Disciplines of Şalat. American Ethnologist, 28(4), 827–853.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Massey, J., & Tatla, R. S. (2012). Moral panic and media representation: The Bradford Riot. In G. Morgan & S. Poynting (Eds.), Global Islamophobia: Muslims and moral panic in the West. Farnham/Surrey/Burlington: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mccarthy, J. R., Holland, J., & Gillies, V. (2003). Multiple perspectives on the ‘family’ lives of young people: Methodological and theoretical issues in case study research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 6(1), 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza, M., Senthikumaran, A., & Ja’far, Z. (2007). Living apart together. London: Policy Exchange.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modood, T. (2006). British Muslims and the politics of multiculturalism. In T. Modood, A. Triandafyllidou, & R. Z. Barrero (Eds.), Multiculturalism, Muslims and citizenship: A European approach (pp. 37–53). London/New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modood, T. (2007). Multiculturalism. Cambridge/Malden: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modood, T. (2010). Still not easy being British. Stoke on Trent/Sterling: Trentham Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mondal, A. A. (2008). Young British Muslim voices. Greenwood: World Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morey, P., & Yaqin, A. (2011). Framing Muslims: Stereotyping and representations after 9/11. Cambridge/London: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, D. (1996). Family Connections: An Introduction to Family Studies. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, G., & Poynting, S. (Eds.). (2012). Global Islamophobia: Muslims and moral panic in the West. Farnham/Surrey/Burlington: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nandi, A., & Platt, L. (2015). Patterns of minority and majority identification in a multicultural society. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 38(15), 2615–2634.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2004). Sacred and secular: Religion and politics worldwide. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Office of National Statistics. (2004). Focus on religion. London: Office of National Statistics. Retrieved from www.ons.org.uk

  • Office of National Statistics. (2011a). Statistical bulletin. Integrated household survey april 2010 to march 2011: Experimental statistics. London: Office of National Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Office of National Statistics. (2011b). Census: KS209EW Religion, local authorities in England and Wales.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parekh, B. (2000). The future of multi ethnic Britain: The Parekh report London commission on the future of multi-ethnic Britain. London: Runnymede Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peace Direct. (2006). Young Muslims Speak. London: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, L. (2005). The intergenerational social mobility of minority ethnic groups. Sociology, 39(3), 445–461.

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt, L. (2014). Is there assimilation in minority groups’ national, ethnic and religious identity? The Journal of Ethnic and Rcial Studies, 37(1), 46–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D. (2015). Our kids. New York: Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramji, H. (2007). Dynamics of religion and gender amongst young British Muslims. Sociology, 41(6), 1171–1189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rollock, N., Gillborn, D., Vincent, C., & Ball, S. J. (2014). The colour of class: The educational strategies of the Black middle classes. Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosati, M. (2015). The making of a postsecular society: A Durkhemian approach to memory, pluralism and religion in Turkey. Farnham/Surrey: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G. (2008). Reaping what you sow: Immigration, youth, and reactive ethnicity. Applied Development Science, 12(2), 108–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Said, E. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scourfield, J., Gilliat-Reay, S., Khan, A., & Sameh, O. (2013). Muslim childhood: Religious nurture in a European context. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Statham, P., Koopmans, R., Giugni, M., & Passy, F. (2005). Resilient or adaptable Islam? Multiculturalism, religion and migrants’ claims-making for group demands in Britain, the Netherlands and France. Ethnicities, 5(4), 427–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sweetman, P. (2009). Revealing habitus, illuminating practice: Bourdieu, photography and visual methods. The Sociological Review, 57(3), 491–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voas, D., & Fleischmann, F. (2012). Islam moves west: Religious change in the first and second generations. Annual Review of Sociology, 38, 525–545.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werbner, P. (2000). Divided loyalties, empowered citizenship? Muslims in Britain. Citizenship Studies, 4(3), 307–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Werbner, P. (2004). Theorising complex diasporas: Purity and hybridity in the South Asian public sphere in Britain. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 30(5), 895–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wieviorka, M. (2007). The construction of what? In T. Modood & G. Raymond (Eds.), The Construction of Ethnic minorities Identities. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wike, R., & Grim, B. J. (2010). Western views toward Muslims: Evidence from a 2006 cross-national survey. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 22(1), 4–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ysseldyk, R., Matheson, K., & Anisman, H. (2010). Religiosity as identity: Toward an understanding of religion from a social identity perspective, Personality. Social Psychology Review, 14(1), 60–71.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Institute of Education, London, UK

    Michela Franceschelli

Authors
  1. Michela Franceschelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Franceschelli, M. (2016). Introduction. In: Identity and Upbringing in South Asian Muslim Families. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53170-4_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53170-4_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53169-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53170-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation