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Title:	Transnational Practices in Local Settings: Experiences of Local Citizenship Among Bangladesh-Origin Muslims in London and Birmingham, 2018–2020
Keywords:	BANGLADESH MUSLIMS LOCAL COMMUNITIES RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES ACCESS TO PUBLIC SERVICES 2022
Description:	Transnational practices in local settings: Experiences of local citizenship among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham is a project funded by the ESRC, investigating the relationship between local and transnational citizenship experiences among Bangladesh-origin Muslims in the diaspora in London (Tower Hamlets and Luton) and Birmingham. The access to education, employment, housing, healthcare and local political processes was examined. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with Bengali families in the form of same-sex parent/child dyads in Tower Hamlets, Luton and Birmingham. The use of same-sex parent-child dyads will help draw out generational dimensions and focus the issues of continuity and change over time. oral history interviews and civil society interviews were conducted in each location, producing a total of interviews, complemented by ethnographic observation with the Bangladeshi community in both field sites. NVivo software was used for data analysis.<p>'Transnational citizenship' (Baubock, 1994; Fox, 2005) has been conceptualised to reflect the processes through which political identity transcends the nation-state (Basch et al, 1994). However, the degree to which political identities that cross borders may be informed by political identities within borders remains a matter of considerable academic debate. It has been argued, for example, that transnational ties represent an impediment to the formation of national and local identifications; a danger to citizenship and integration in countries of settlement (Snel et al, 2006). Others argue that the reverse may also be true. The concept of 'political opportunity structure' has come to suggest that transnational practices take place in local settings; shaped by the particular opportunities and constraints present in different localities (Guarnizo and Smith, 1998; Mahler, 1998). This deviates from the majority of the literature on Muslim transnational relations in particular, in which the focus is very often on the characteristics of the population, or the characteristics of Islamic culture, in a way that ignores &quot;the role of social and political circumstances in shaping how people make sense of the world and then act upon it&quot; (Kundnani, 2014, p.10). This project considers the relationship between the local and transnational citizenship experiences of Bangladesh-origin Muslims in London and Birmingham. It investigates local experiences of citizenship in relation to a) different histories of settlement, b) different population profiles in terms of ethnic concentration, age, gender, socio-economic background, length of residence and naturalization status, and c) the different social and political environments of the two cities. The project will examine how these local political identities influence processes of transnational engagement, and consider how transnational identities and relationships in turn inform local political subjectivity. It will draw on the insights of 'political opportunity theory' but depart from it in two key respects. First, previous work has tended to construct migrant populations as homogenous groups and this project will devote greater attention to considering how issues play out differently according to gender, generation and class. Second, it will move beyond characterisations of citizenship based on 'formal status' to consider more 'substantive' dimensions of socio-political engagement - the social, cultural, political, or symbolic 'acts' that legal status may or may not make possible (Isin and Nielsen, 2008). This includes examination of access to education, employment, housing, healthcare and local political processes. In each location, 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted with 15 Bengali families in the form of same-sex parent/child dyads. The use of same-sex parent-child dyads will help draw out generational dimensions and focus the issues of continuity and change over time. In addition, 5 oral history interviews and 5 civil society interviews will be conducted in each location, producing a total of 80 interviews, complemented by ethnographic observation with the Bangladeshi community in both field sites. In the context of the on-going 'War on Terror', and an increasing political and media focus on a security threat that is 'home grown', the transnational practices of British Muslims have generated particular concern. This has fed into a range of recent policy proposals with respect to the treatment of British subjects who engage in transnational activities the Government does not support, and brings the constitutionally protected activities of a large number of people under increasing surveillance (Kundnani, 2014). In popular debate and the practice of public policy, therefore, transnational ties may affect local experiences of citizenship, but more research is needed to understand how transnational activity is situated in local social, cultural and political milieu.</p>
URI:	https://t2-4.bsc.es/jspui/handle/123456789/59778
Other Identifiers:	854490 10.5255/UKDA-SN-854490 https://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-854490
Appears in Collections:	Cessda

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