The changing public face of Muslim associations in Britain: Coming together for common ‘social’ goals?

Abstract

This article examines the Muslim organizational field in Britain based on interviews with activists. It applies a political opportunity perspective to address the degree to which organizations’ aims and activities have been shaped by the contextual factors confronting them, or more independently, by ‘bottom-up’ beliefs and commitments drawn from their relationships to the community. Specifically, the empirical part examines, first, how activists perceive media representation as an opportunity or constraint, and second, how their organizations have constructed collective identities in order to advance their aims within the UK context. Generally, we find that organizations have come together using under a broad ascriptive ‘Muslim’ label that works across denominational, national and ethnic differences. Not only is this orientation a direct response to the pressures of community cohesion policies and discourses but it also has a strong independent and faith-based component in serving the community and its social needs. The resultant Muslim organizational field is strongly acculturative to UK society, but remains critically independent of governing authorities. Finally, organizations have responded to what they see as poor media representation of Muslims by proactively engaging in media work.