Performance and surveillance in an era of austerity: schooling the reflexive generation of Muslim young men

Abstract

The last 15 years have seen a remarkable shift in the educational representation of British-born Muslim young men. In the media-led reclassification of them, from South Asian to Muslim, they have moved from ideal student to potential jihadist. This article draws upon a three-year ethnographic study with young Muslim men located within the West Midlands. A shared emphasis on structural issues across critical theoretical frameworks on neoliberalism, government discourses, such as Prevent, and counter narratives on Islamophobia serves to underplay young Muslim men’s subjectivity, and in so doing limits their self-authorization. We argue that at a time of intense state/institutional surveillance as a ‘suspect community’ and the criminalization of ethnic and religious difference, Muslim young men are in the process of negotiating late-modern urban masculine identities. Simultaneously, deploying a methodological reflexivity indicates that a re-reading of their narratives provides insights into recent political changes and national belonging.