Young Muslims in Keighley, West Yorkshire: Cultural Identity, Context and ‘Community’

Abstract

The concerns aspects of basic context including local geography, state structures, the education system, employment and unemployment patterns, leisure activities, class dynamics, and racism. A great many young Muslims in Keighley are quite devout, or at least firmly believing in their faith. A brief ethnographic account is regarding the Asian population of Keighley, West Yorkshire, which indicates some of the ways in which the issues have manifested and affected the situation of young Muslims. Local context, and not just the fact of living in Britain, has much to do with the development of young Muslims' cultural identities. Facets of 'community' - including kinship patterns, the nature and history of Muslim associations, and leadership contests - also strongly affect ways in which young Muslims see themselves and react to their parents and others of their parent’s generation. Other young Muslims, of course, do indeed maintain a more religiously oriented identity.