Two cultures, one identity: formulations of Australian Isma’ili Muslim identity
Date
2017-03-09Abstract
The Shi’a Imami Nizari Isma’ili Muslims have often been considered the
"poster child" for pluralistic integration (Cayo 2008). This ethos has been inculcated
within members of the community, with its adherents seeing themselves as a diverse
and multi-ethnic collective. Nevertheless, despite this purported pluralism, social
research on the Isma’ilis has primarily focused on the diasporic and post-diasporic
migrant communities of South Asian descent, the ‘first and second-generation immigrants,’
in the Euro-American context (Mukadam and Mawani 2006, 2009; Nanji 1983,
1986). The experiences of co-religionists in other contexts have often been neglected.
This study examines how members of the self-described geographically and socially
isolated Isma’ili community in Australia construct their identity vis-à-vis the larger,
global, Isma’ili community, and how they have responded to the potential of identity
threat given the arrival of another group of Isma’ilis with a differing migratory history
integrating into the extant community. Using the approach of identity process theory,
this study examines how salient features of identity are constructed amongst the Australian Isma’ilis, how religion and identity take on multiple meanings within the
Australian Isma’ili context, and, finally, sheds light on the self-sufficiency of this
community despite geographic and social isolation.
Description
Open access journal
Citation : Mitha, K. et al. (2017) Two cultures, one identity: formulations of Australian Isma’ili Muslim identity. Contemporary Islam, 11(1), pp.41-60.
ISSN : 1872-0218
1872-0226
1872-0226
Research Group : Psychology
Research Institute : Media Discourse Centre (MDC)
Research Institute : Mary Seacole Research Centre
Research Institute : Mary Seacole Research Centre
Peer Reviewed : Yes