Introduction

Recently, the events of 9/11 helped to shape the recent study of Islam and of Muslim communities in the West in quite fundamental ways. We have seen growing bodies of scholarly research and debate about Islam, forms of religious fundamentalism, the role of terrorist movements such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, Islamophobia, the position of Muslim minorities in the West and related questions (Asad 2003; Modood 2005; Bleich 2010; Alam and Husband 2013). This growth of scholarship has been evident in a number of fields of research, ranging from sociology through politics, international relations and law to the humanities. In addition, we have also seen intense media and public policy debates about Islam, particularly in the context of electoral politics and debates about multiculturalism (Bleich, Bloemraad, and de Graauw 2015; Bleich et al. 2015). We have reflected various aspects of these debates in the journal over the past two decades, both in the form of individual articles as well as in special issues. In this collection, we have brought together a number of research-based papers that

seek to address questions about the changing experiences of Muslim communities, or specific groups within them, in various national and localized environments. Although they do not exhaust the broad range of scholarly research in this evolving field, we do think that they cover issues that are likely to be of some importance in the coming period. The first contribution is by Chris Allen and Arshad Isakjee. They draw on research

about the response among elite Muslim political actors in Britain to a YouTube video entitled the ‘Innocence of Muslims’ that contained portrayals of the prophet Muhammad as well as his companions. Allen and Isakjee explore the response to this video through interviews with elite political actors. They also explore similarities and differences between this controversy and others, such as the Rushdie Affair, the Danish cartoons controversy and related events. The next contribution is by Justin Gest, and it is focused on the question of

essentialist identity formation among sections of Muslim communities in the West. Gest’s paper draws upon empirical research among men of Bangladeshi and Moroccan origin in London and Madrid. His core arguments point to the need to explore the conditions (social, political and cultural) that underpin the construction of essentialized forms of identity. In particular, he suggests that although much attention has been paid to non-essentialized forms of identity, relatively little research has been carried out on the formation of contemporary forms of essentialized identities. The next two papers are concerned with the practice of ‘veiling’ in Quebec,

Canada. The first of these, by Brenda O’Neill, Elisabeth Gidengil, Catherine Côté and

Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2015 Vol. 38, No. 11, 1849-1851, https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2015.1053821

Lisa Young, focuses on the question of non-Muslim women’s support in Quebec for the acceptability of the niqab. The paper explores the ways in which feminist discourses can be, and have been, used to support cultural practices that are seen in many ways as antithetical to the interests of women as a social group. In doing so, they highlight the ways in which feminist discourses engage with questions about cultural and religious diversity. The next paper, by Paul Eid, draws out some of the same issues by exploring the attitudes of both veiled and non-veiled Muslim teenagers in Quebec. Eid’s analysis manages to give voice to the variety of views that are expressed by both sets of teenagers and is suggestive of the need for further empirical research on this issue in different societies and social contexts. Leon Moosavi’s paper is concerned with the role that whiteness plays in the

experiences of white converts to Islam. Drawing on original research among white converts in Britain, Moosavi explores the ways in which the ‘whiteness’ of the converts is in some ways in jeopardy after their conversion. In developing this account, he suggests that the idea that ‘whiteness’ is always a sign of privilege needs to be seen more as an empirical question rather than being taken for granted. The question of the interactions between different markers of identity is also at the

heart of Mingyue (Michelle) Gu’s paper. This paper draws on detailed empirical research among Pakistani schoolgirls in Hong Kong in order to explore the role that religion, gender and marginalization play in shaping their everyday experiences both within their community as well as the wider society. In the past two decades, universities have become one of the sites where the

radicalization of young Muslims has come to the fore. This is the focus of the paper by Katherine Brown and Tania Saeed, which focuses on the phenomenon of radicalization and involvement with radical Muslim groups among the student body in British universities. They draw particularly on student narratives amongst a wide-ranging group of students and highlight the diversity of views among Muslim students. The next paper, by Stephen Jones, is focused on the role that Muslims play in the

political culture of the city of Leicester. This is a city that has become synonymous with the wider phenomenon of the growth of multiculturalism in British cities and towns. Jones’s paper provides a valuable insight into the processes that have led to the incorporation of Leicester’s Muslims within political institutions and broader civic institutions. Mattias Ekman’s paper covers an area that has attracted some attention in recent

years, namely the use of the internet and social media in the construction of online Islamophobia. Although this is an issue that has attracted some attention in relation to race and ethnic relations more generally, Ekman’s analysis provides a suggestive account of the nature of online discourses about Islam, Muslim minorities and more generally on multiculturalism. The final paper, by Orla Lynch and Angela Veale, provides an account of what has

changed about the experience of ‘Being Muslim’ in Ireland after 9/11. Lynch and Veale suggest that the shifts in debates about Islam after 9/11 have done much to shape both the everyday experiences of Muslims in Ireland, as well as to influence wider debates about race and immigration. This collection of papers will hopefully be of interest to our readers, particularly as

the issues that it tackles are of some importance in both political culture and everyday

life in many societies at the present time. We look forward to engaging with this area of scholarship and research in future issues of the journal.