Abstract
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, anti-Muslim discourse and sentiment has become pervasive in the West. Using a collaborative ethnographic approach, we observe how participants at a Turkish Community Center (TCC) cultivate stigma management strategies against the cultural backdrop of post-9/11 anti-Muslim stereotypes. In our analysis, we use Goffman’s work on stigma and critical race theory to explore the socially embedded nature of stigmatization processes for Turkish Muslims in a local community center. Our findings reveal how aspects of Turkish culture and Islam, together with a structural context that facilitates collective stigma management, allow TCC participants to effectively manage stigma and combat anti-Muslim stereotypes. Turkish participants use the practice of “dialogue” to prioritize secular identity(ies) through cultural education, normalize the Muslim self in conversation about religion, and embody a gendered presentation of Islam and Turkish culture. While facilitating individual and collective resilience for TCC participants in the face of stigmatization and pervasive anti-Muslim sentiment, these practices also contribute to the reproduction of broader patterns of racial, cultural, and gender inequality.
Highlights
Muslims have long been subject to orientalist discourse, which negatively stereotypes them as violent, militaristic, uncivilized, and fanatical (Said 1979; Saloom 2005)
Embedded in formal cultural education efforts; intimate conversations about religion; and in gendered presentation(s) of self, dialogue allows Turks to make contiguity claims that stress their similarity to Americans and/or Christians and distancing claims that stress their dissimilarity from terrorists/extremists (Berbrier 2002)
When Turkish Turkish Community Center (TCC) participants engage in dialogue through cultural education—a process they control and use to emphasize the secular Turkish self—they cultivate a familiarity with Turkish culture that leads many Americans to conclude “they are like us.”
Summary
Muslims have long been subject to orientalist discourse, which negatively stereotypes them as violent, militaristic, uncivilized, and fanatical (Said 1979; Saloom 2005). Members of the Gülen movement, including those at the TCC, continue to focus their efforts on intercultural/interfaith dialogue at a local level hoping to contribute to the larger, international Hizmet movement According to their informational literature, the stated purpose of the TCC’s many organized activities such as luncheons, dinners, and spiritual meetings is to foster communication between individuals of diverse backgrounds, aid in relationship building, and promote cross-cultural education. Like other groups affiliated with the Gülen movement, the TCC has three main types of events: (1) annual/semiannual large-scale events that formally highlight the center and its mission to the public, the media, and/or local spiritual leaders; (2) Smallerscale weekly, monthly, or quarterly informal events designed to highlight Turkish culture, and to occasionally discuss American culture or history; (3) Turk-only events The majority of these activities—book club meetings, cooking classes, luncheons, children’s activities, and cultural gatherings, for example—are held at its headquarters located on a main road at the edge of a residential neighborhood. Contributions from Turkish members are only occasionally supplemented by donations from Americans who attend events
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
