Tsagarousianou, R. 2019. Beyond the concept of diaspora? Re-evaluating our theoretical toolkit through the study of Muslim transnationalism. in: Retis, J. and Tsagarousianou, R. (ed.) The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 77-96
| Chapter title | Beyond the concept of diaspora? Re-evaluating our theoretical toolkit through the study of Muslim transnationalism |
|---|---|
| Authors | Tsagarousianou, R. |
| Editors | Retis, J. and Tsagarousianou, R. |
| Abstract | Europe’s Muslims, especially those who have migrated to the continent and their offspring, have largely been engaging in a long process that involves the adaptation of their communities to their new societies, to new ways of dealing with social issues and challenges while they have also tried to sustain and reproduce distinctive cultural values in a non-Muslim setting. What is quite interesting and pertinent as far as this chapter is concerned is that, in many cases, they have been doing so in the company of fellow Muslims whose practices originated in homelands different from theirs. Despite this diversity, their shared experiences have produced some commonalities in their engagement with the Islamic tradition and their modalities of creating their cotemporary communities. They have, moreover, not negotiated such issues in isolation: Muslims today are tied together globally through a range of institutions and media (Tsagarousianou 2007 and 2013), so much so that we can no longer ignore the conceptual move “from the more essentialist notions of a concrete homeland, national or ethnic identity and geographical location to deployments of the notion of diaspora conceptualized in terms of transnationality, imagination, ambivalence, hybridity or mestisage and heterogeneity”. |
| Keywords | Europe's muslims, diaspora, homeland, settlement, identity, transnationality, hybridity, message, heterogeneity |
| Book title | The Handbook of Diasporas, Media and Culture |
| Page range | 77-96 |
| Year | 2019 |
| Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
| Publication dates | |
| Published online | Mar 2019 |
| ISBN | 9781119236702 |
| 9781119236795 |