Ethnicity and Race in a Changing World
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2010 - Manchester University Press
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2010 - Manchester University Press
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<strong>Ethnicity</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Race</strong> <strong>in</strong> a Chang<strong>in</strong>g <strong>World</strong>: A Review Journalparticularly active <strong>in</strong> the anti-war movement <strong>in</strong> Blackburn, but had recently moved to Nott<strong>in</strong>gham.I was particularly <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong> meet<strong>in</strong>g somebody from Blackburn s<strong>in</strong>ce the US Secretary of State,Condoleeza Rice, had put it on the global map after vist<strong>in</strong>g it <strong>in</strong> 2006, follow<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>vite from thethen Labour Cab<strong>in</strong>et member <strong>and</strong> local MP, Jack Straw - a visit which <strong>in</strong>duced protests. Follow<strong>in</strong>gMiss Rice’s visit to Blackburn, the city’s Muslim residents cont<strong>in</strong>ued to receive much attention asJack Straw also made statements concern<strong>in</strong>g his discomfort with veil<strong>in</strong>g practices amongst BritishMuslim women attend<strong>in</strong>g his surgery. Hence, when Nasr<strong>in</strong> suggested that I meet with Jah<strong>and</strong>ra <strong>in</strong>Nott<strong>in</strong>gham, it seemed a good opportunity to discuss these events <strong>and</strong> the subsequent debates withsomeone who had witnessed them first-h<strong>and</strong>.All three women identified themselves as practis<strong>in</strong>g Muslims. Of the three, two of them woreheadscarves on a regular basis. I had never seen Farhana with a head scarf. Jah<strong>and</strong>ra said she hadchosen to wear the headscarf while she was work<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Blackburn but had ceased to doso when she moved back to Nott<strong>in</strong>gham s<strong>in</strong>ce she realised that she was not closely attend<strong>in</strong>g to theother tenets of Islam <strong>and</strong> did not wish to cover her head simply for the sake of do<strong>in</strong>g so. Nasr<strong>in</strong> almostalways dressed relatively simply with hardly any make-up usually wear<strong>in</strong>g a long skirt, a blouse,<strong>and</strong> a pla<strong>in</strong> headscarf which matched her skirt. Because of this simplicity of dress, Nasr<strong>in</strong>’s sartorialchoices conveyed to me an SWP/Islamic identity s<strong>in</strong>ce most members of the SWP dressed <strong>in</strong> similarways. Farhana was much more fashion conscious <strong>and</strong> she tended to dress more ostentatiously withjewellery <strong>and</strong> make-up, alternat<strong>in</strong>g between Pakistani <strong>and</strong> British fashion styles. Jah<strong>and</strong>ra dressed<strong>in</strong> a much more conservative <strong>and</strong> professional manner, usually wear<strong>in</strong>g trousers or long skirts. Thediffer<strong>in</strong>g styles were significant because they conveyed each of these women’s engagements <strong>and</strong>relationships with diverse spatialities.The women I met with conveyed their Muslim identities <strong>in</strong> numerous ways. For example, dur<strong>in</strong>gthe Islamic month of Ramadan, theyall told me that they spent extended hours at the mosque <strong>and</strong>that at work they made special arrangements to pray. One of the women wore the Pakistani dressShalwar Kameez regularly to work dur<strong>in</strong>g the month of Ramadan, rather than adher<strong>in</strong>g to the Britishfashion - a gesture which she understood as a way of be<strong>in</strong>g expressly Muslim. Although, the threewomen conveyed differ<strong>in</strong>g ways of practic<strong>in</strong>g Islam with some of them becom<strong>in</strong>g more overt <strong>in</strong> theirpractice dur<strong>in</strong>g certa<strong>in</strong> months of the Islamic calendar, all three of them understood their religiosityas a holistic way of be<strong>in</strong>g rather than simply follow<strong>in</strong>g religious tenets.I use the term British Pakistani Muslims to refer to the women I met with as this is one of the ways<strong>in</strong> which the women I spoke with self-identified themselves. They also <strong>in</strong>dividually self-identifiedas British Asians, British Pakistanis, British Muslims, Muslim women, Mancunian, <strong>and</strong> Black. I too,self-identify <strong>in</strong> a number of ways: as a lecturer research<strong>in</strong>g British Muslim women’s identities, born<strong>in</strong> Karachi, Pakistan, <strong>and</strong> as someone who has lived <strong>in</strong> Los Angeles for a number of years prior torelocat<strong>in</strong>g to the UK for work.The <strong>in</strong>terviewees were quite will<strong>in</strong>g to speak to me, especially s<strong>in</strong>ce I had known two of the womenover the course of several years.My secular views did not prove to be a h<strong>in</strong>drance. The fact that we all felt dissatisfaction with the IraqWar provided common ground with all the women. Be<strong>in</strong>g of Pakistani orig<strong>in</strong> also helped connect mewith the research participants.I <strong>in</strong>terviewed Nasr<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> a space which was politically quite significant to her; a Palest<strong>in</strong>ian café, whereseveral political groups often met. This was facilitated by the staff as they shared the political views<strong>and</strong> beliefs of the groups such as the SWP, Stop the War Coalition (STWC), Palest<strong>in</strong>ian SolidarityGroup, Respect Party, as well as some student groups from the nearby campus of Manchester6