Fighting for “Justice”, Engaging the Other: Shi’a Muslim Activism on the British University Campus

Emanuelle Degli Esposti,Alison Scott-Baumann

doi:10.3390/rel10030189

Emanuelle Degli Esposti, Alison Scott-Baumann

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/rel10030189

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Abstract

While Shi’a Muslims remain in the minority in Europe, including within universities, the past decade has witnessed the growing profile of Shi’ism on university campuses, especially in Britain. In particular, there has been an emphasis on campaigns that prioritise notions of justice, equality, and human rights. Drawing on interviews and ethnographic fieldwork conducted amongst Twelver Shi’a students in Britain between 2013–2018, this paper examines the forms of Shi’a activism currently being articulated on university campuses, especially those that explicitly seek to engage non-Muslims and spread awareness about Shi’a Islam. On the one hand, such practices constitute a form of self-representation for Shi’a students who would otherwise feel marginalised within the university space; while on the other, they promote a particular version of Shi’a Islam that both frames it within the European context and that also contributes to the sectarianisation of the contemporary Shi’a subject. While the forms and resonance of Shi’a student activism arguably only have meaning within the context of contemporary Europe, we argue that the discursive contours underpinning such activism ultimately transcend such national and cultural boundaries and contribute to a reinterpretation and reimagining of Shi’a sectarian identity for the modern age.

Highlights

Despite often being presented as the quintessential monolithic “other” to Western Judeo-Christian religious and cultural hegemony, Islam is as rife with internal nuances, divisions, and heterogeneity as any other sociocultural system of meaning
Twelver Shi’a students in Britain between 2013–2018, this paper examines the forms of Shi’a activism currently being articulated on university campuses, especially those that explicitly seek to engage non-Muslims and spread awareness about Shi’a Islam
While the forms and resonance of Shi’a student activism arguably only have meaning within the context of contemporary Europe, we argue that the discursive contours underpinning such activism transcend such national and cultural boundaries and contribute to a reinterpretation and reimagining of Shi’a sectarian identity for the modern age

Summary

Introduction

Despite often being presented as the quintessential monolithic “other” to Western Judeo-Christian religious and cultural hegemony, Islam is as rife with internal nuances, divisions, and heterogeneity as any other sociocultural system of meaning These differences naturally carry over when relating to Muslim populations in non-Muslim countries, including those in Europe and the West. (Degli Esposti 2018b, 2018a; Flaskerud 2014; Scharbrodt 2011; Scharbrodt et al 2017; Scharbrodt and Shanneik 2018; Schmidt 2009; Shanneik 2015; Spellman-Poots 2018; Van den Bos 2012) While much of this emerging literature focuses on Shi’a rituals and practices, migrant spaces, and issues of gender and religious observance, there has been little focus on the ways in which Shi’a minorities actively engage with the wider societies in which they live.2 Elshayyal While the research and findings of this paper focus on the British case, we have preliminary evidence to suggest that the experiences of Shi’is in Britain are being replicated elsewhere in Europe; Britain represents a microcosm of the ways in which Shi’a identity is currently being (re-)articulated and (re-)interpreted in the context of contemporary Europe.

Results

Shi’ism on Campus

Conclusions