Australian Muslim leaders and normalisation discourses

Social integration is a contested concept that has been defined in various ways by different stakeholders. Drawing on research with Australian Muslim leaders, we argue that social integration can be usefully conceptualised as both a process of normalisation and the end product of this process. In th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ethnicities 2015-10, Vol.15 (5), p.633-651
Main Authors: Sohrabi, Hadi, Farquharson, Karen
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Social integration is a contested concept that has been defined in various ways by different stakeholders. Drawing on research with Australian Muslim leaders, we argue that social integration can be usefully conceptualised as both a process of normalisation and the end product of this process. In this paper, we first discuss the identity aspect of social integration and then outline the discursive strategies the Muslim leaders utilise in their attempts to achieve the goal of being viewed as normal Australians. We illustrate how the leaders exercise agency in challenging dominant negative discourses, which assign to them a stigmatised position in Australia. The empirical evidence comes from 30 interviews conducted in Melbourne and Sydney in 2010 and 2011 with prominent Australian Muslim leaders.
ISSN:1468-7968
1741-2706
DOI:10.1177/1468796814547371