Muslim Communities in England 1962-90

This book analyses Muslim integration into English society from the 1960s to the 1990s. The author argues that, contrary to common narratives built around a sudden transformation during the Rushdie affair, religious identity was of great importance to English Muslims throughout this period. The study also considers what the experiences of Muslim communities tell us about British multiculturalism.

With chapters which consider English Muslim experiences in education, employment, and social services, British multiculturalism is shown to be a capacious artifice, variegated across and within localities and resistant to periodization. It is understood as positing separate ethnic communities, and serving these communities with special provisions aimed ultimately at integration. It is argued moreover to have developed its own momentum, limiting the efficacy of 21st century backlashes against it.

Muslim Communities in England 1962-90will be of interest to students and scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology, history and politics.                          

Jed Fazakarley is Lecturer in History, Hertford College, University of Oxford, UK.

1. Introduction.- 2. Accommodation and Integration: Educating English Muslims, 1962-1998.- 3. Integration Begins at Home: Purdah and English Muslim Families.- 4. Religion, Culture and Biology: English Muslim Workers, 1962-85.- 5. Butting Fundaments: Responses to the Rushdie Affair.- 6. The Origins, Location and Nature of Multiculturalism in Post-war Britain.- 7. Conclusion: English Muslims and Multiculturalism since the 1990s.