Contradictions of Community: Questions of Identity for Young British Muslim Women

Abstract

The author addresses contradictions of community through a case study which explores how young British Muslim women construct and contest their identities. Drawing upon the work of Hall, and others, in their theorisation of ‘new ethnicities’ or ‘hybrid identities’, she examines the possibilities for reworking the idea of community as a dynamic process which has a discursive and political effectivity. Through an examination of the constructions of community negotiated and deployed by young British Muslim women she highlights the ways in which different imaginations of community can be both empowering and constraining.