Representations of Islam in the politics of mosque development in Sydney

Abstract

The negative constructions of Islam which circulate at (inter)national levels include Muslims as fanatical, intolerant, militant, fundamentalist, misogynist and alien. The various constructions of Islam had varying utility for mosque opponents in Sydney, Australia, during the 1980s and 1990s. Fanaticism and intolerance are constructions of Islam which have now had centuries of articulation in the West. These constructions have attained great potency as a result of their reiterative deployment. In Sydney, they were used to influence planning determinations and political decisions within local authorities. The charges of militancy and misogyny did not easily convert into a planning ground for opposing a mosque, but they were used to heighten public unease and widen opposition. Local authorities also refused development consent for mosques on the grounds that the proposals were ‘out of character’ with surrounding development, drawing on the construction of Muslims as alien and ultimately out of place. The discourses of opposition to mosques did not simply rely on the stereotypes of Islam, but also drew heavily on cultural constructions of what constituted a local citizen and the local community. Mosque supporters attempted to deploy counter‐constructions, of Muslims as moderate, tolerant, peaceful, clean living, family‐orientated, ordinary local citizens. A social construction approach is used to examine the politics surrounding mosque development in Sydney. This reveals both the socio‐spatial impacts of identity constructions (of a minority group and the imagined dominant community) as well as the important role of space and locale.