Dr. Fatima Rajina's book, "British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End," offers a nuanced exploration of how dress and language shape the identities of this community. It challenges the media's narrow focus on Muslim women's attire, expanding the conversation to include men's clothing choices and their evolution. The study delves into the historical context, tracing the influence of British imperial history and the global war on terror. Rajina's research utilizes in-depth interviews and analysis, providing valuable insights into the complexities of identity formation within a specific community. The book's findings resonate beyond its specific focus, highlighting the interconnectedness of Muslim communities globally.
Popular discourse around British Muslims has often been dominated by a focus on Muslim women and their sartorial choices, particularly the hijab and niqab. British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End: The Changing Landscape of Dress and Language (Manchester UP, 2024) by Dr. Fatima Rajina takes a different angle and focuses on Muslim men, examining how factors like the global war on terror influenced and changed their sartorial choices and use of language. The book denaturalises the ubiquitous and deeply problematic security lens through which knowledge of Muslims has been produced in the past two decades.
British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End offers an alternative reading of these communities and how their political subjectivities emerge. Drawing on historical events, field research and existing academic work, the book aims to address the multiple ways British Bangladeshi Muslim men and women create their relationship with dress and language. This is the first book to empirically examine how dress and language shape the identities of British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End, using in-depth analysis useful for anyone interested in the study of British Muslims broadly. While the book focuses on a specific Muslim community, the emerging themes demonstrate the interconnectedness of Muslims locally and globally and how they manifest their identities through dress and language.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars.
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New Books in Sociology