The Making of the Good British Muslim

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates the meaning and political implications of the poppy hijab, a headscarf sporting British World War Remembrance poppies and intended to give British Muslims a new way of showing their social integration in public. Based on fieldwork with Muslims in London, I argue, however, that instead of furthering Muslims’ equitable inclusion in British society, the poppy hijab rather represents a Foucauldian “technology of the self” for them to prove that they are “good British Muslims”. As such, it reflects the unequal relations of power in society and may foster rather than lower general suspicion towards Muslims in Britain.