Muslim Cosmopolitanism in Rural Bangladesh: The Construction of Power Dynamics vis-à-vis Cosmopolitan Identity

Md Nizam Ul Hossain,Nodi Islam

doi:10.47631/ijecls.v3i1.390

Md Nizam Ul Hossain, Nodi Islam

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.47631/ijecls.v3i1.390

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Abstract

The article addresses how the migrant Bangladeshi workers, in their bid to be a part of the Middle Eastern Muslim Cosmopolis, make sense of the negotiation between the concepts of nation-state and umma. The article also examines whether these migrants’ endorsement of a ‘foreign’ Muslim culture in Bangladesh has created a community of ‘other’ Muslims perceived to be less Muslim because of being less exposed to the Middle East culture. In a rapidly changing context in terms of cultural identification, it is pertinent to investigate if the power, prestige, and privilege that these Bangladeshi migrants enjoy in Bangladesh rely solely on their becoming ‘better’ Muslims or rather chiefly stem from their monetary gain. The article explores whether a good financial status becomes the driving force in creating the Muslim ‘other,’ and how it has been inspiring others to migrate to the Middle East to become successful and ‘Global’ Muslim Citizens. The concepts of umma and cosmopolitan constitute the conceptual framework of the study. The study also presents a critique of cultural influence and identity construction based on faith. In addition, some migrants were interviewed to reflect upon their experience and the role of religious affiliation in the construction of cosmopolitan Muslim identity. Both collective conscience and the sense of religious affinity are addressed.

Highlights

For the past two decades, Cosmopolitanism has become the new buzzword (Leichtman et al 1; Song et al 346)
Attitude towards Nationality and Umma. Upon interviewing both groups of migrant workers, it becomes evident that due to their legal and illegal visa statuses and the amount of earning, their experience in and of Middle Eastern countries are constituted very differently which result in them seeing their own country and their Muslim identity both in and out of Bangladesh in very different ways
The irony is that the establishment of Muslim Cosmopolitanism has created hegemonic pockets of the ‘other’

Summary

Introduction

For the past two decades, Cosmopolitanism has become the new buzzword (Leichtman et al 1; Song et al 346). A fair portion of its meanings can be traced to the Cynics or the Stoics in Greek antiquity, and other meanings to the 18th-century elaboration of the concept of Cosmopolitanism by Immanuel Kant. Famous authors such as Marx and Engels even postulated a new cosmopolitanism that is linked to the contemporary processes of globalization, deregulation of markets, post-nationalism, migration, and feminism (Petrus 801). Cosmopolitanism may characterize a certain perspective on the whole world, both social and cultural conditions, a political subjectivity, an attitude, a political project, and a practice or competence. In his interpretation of the concept, Appiah’s intertwines two strands of his distinguished moral manifesto:

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