Overview

Making Muslimness explores how British Muslims navigate the United Kingdom's sociopolitical and religious tensions through performance in everyday life. Drawing on nearly two years of interdisciplinary research in Manchester during the late 2010s and early 2020s, this book examines diverse contexts – from devised theatre projects to public processions to the aftermath of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack. It distinguishes between Islam as a religion and Muslimness as a performed identity, arguing that Muslimness emerges through negotiation based on individuals' relationships to Islam's social construction. Through theatre-making, ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and media analyses, the book deconstructs the racialized British assumption that equates Muslim identity with Asian heritage. Instead, it reveals a resilient British Muslim counterpublic that builds solidarity, challenges harmful narratives, and creates socially just artistic spaces. The work bridges theatre and performance studies with anthropologies of Islam, Britain, and youth while addressing intersections of Muslimness with race, gender, sexuality, age, and Britishness. This book is essential reading for scholars and students in performance studies, religious studies, sociology, and cultural studies who are interested in contemporary Muslim identities, performance, and the politics of belonging in multicultural Britain.

Full Product Details

9781032547510

Table of Contents

Reviews

‘Making Muslimness is essential reading for those who wish to dive into cultural and political performances of Muslimness in the United Kingdom as negotiated through performance. Majid's ethnographic work, artistic practice, and critical interventions remind us of the possibilities of political critique that emerge from openly sharing our lived experiences. This is a beautifully written book that invites its readers to think about religion, identity, and culture with political urgency that makes this book necessary for the field of theatre and performance studies.’ Noe Montez, Associate Professor of Theater Studies (Emory University) ‘Making Muslimness offers a compelling - even groundbreaking - approach to understanding ‘Muslimness’ on its own terms, rather than through external, reductive lenses. Majid seamlessly integrates collaborative theatre-making, autoethnography, and meticulous ethnographic fieldwork to illuminate how Mancunian Muslims negotiate their complex, fluid identities in everyday and staged performances - particularly in the aftermath of a shattering act of violence. Majid's approach masterfully reveals ‘Muslimness’ as a dynamic, relational, and often political phenomenon. This is a bold, innovative book that reframes the study of Muslims in Britain with rigor, empathy, and creativity.’ Abdul-Rehman Malik, Associate Research Fellow (Yale Divinity School) and Director of the Muslim Leadership Lab (Yale University)

Author Information

Asif Majid, PhD, writes fiction, (academic) non-fiction, and plays. He serves as Assistant Professor of Theatre and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut.

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