Young, Brummie and Muslim in the Problematised City: Investigating Identity and Belonging Among Muslim Youth in Birmingham, England

Abstract

This article investigates how the identity and sense of belonging evident among young Muslims in Birmingham, England are effected by the city’s ‘problematisation’. To do so, this article presents the findings from new empirical data gathered from 125 respondents aged between 18 and 25 all of whom identified as Muslim and were resident in Birmingham. Having contextualised the city’s problematisation, British Muslim identity and the ‘politics of belonging’, this article adopts a threefold approach. First, in relation to how young Muslims in the city identify with it as something of an abstract entity, unproblematically identifying as ‘Brummie’. Second, in relation to how young Muslims identify ‘home’ and belonging to the city’s ‘Muslim areas’. Third, in relation to the perceived risk of victimisation due to their Muslim identity in the multicultural spaces of the city centre. In conclusion, this article suggests that while the city’s problematisation has little detrimental impact on young Muslim identity, the internalisation of that problematisation necessitates changes in the performance of Muslim identity.