3 results
3 - Gendered Health Inequalities and British Muslim Women: An Intersectional Approach and Analysis
- Edited by Sufyan Abid Dogra, Bradford Institute for Health Research
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- Book:
- British Muslims, Ethnicity and Health Inequalities
- Published by:
- Edinburgh University Press
- Published online:
- 18 October 2023
- Print publication:
- 31 January 2023, pp 47-73
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Summary
Narratives of Pathologising Bodies and Mobilities of British Muslim Women
Narratives of pathologising British Muslim women’s bodies and mobilities were mostly written between 1980 and 2010 in social sciences, in works by academics such as Haleh Afshar (1989, 2002), Afshar and Barrientos (1999), Afshar and Maynard (1994), Afshar et al. (2005), Pnina Werbner (1990, 2004, 2007) and Robina Mohammad (1999, 2005, 2013). British Muslim women have been portrayed as victims, oppressed and abused because of their families, culture, ethnicity and religion. Biased academics and scholars projected British Muslim women through their imaginations as disadvantaged Muslim women from the countries of origin or with their stereotypical and pathological views about first-generation Muslim women in Britain. These scholars internalised speculation on British Muslim women through orientalist depictions, colonial ethnographies and from the popular or mainstream media. The narratives of pathologies about first-generation British Muslim women are conveniently generalised over the second generation or to some extent the third generation by these scholars without acknowledging the qualitative differences in the lived experiences and struggles of different generations (see Chapter 11). These narratives took a condescending view on the ‘culture, values, norms, ethnicity or religion of British Muslim women and projected these as barriers to their emancipation on one hand, and as causes and context of their ill-health experiences on the other. These narratives of pathologising British Muslim women often ignore the impact of structural inequities, discrimination, racism, Islamophobia and deprivation that defines the lived experience of ill health for British Muslim women. Advancing the narratives of pathologising British Muslim women’s bodies and mobilities by depicting their vulnerabilities, victimhood and helplessness because of the ‘moral economy of kin’ (Afshar 1989) functioning through their family, culture, ethnicity and religion is the reproduction of the racist, neo-eugenics and neo-colonial mindset that latently aspires to discipline Muslim women’s bodies and mobilities on a standardised secular, liberal expression of living a public life in Britain. Such narratives of pathologies depicting third-generation British Muslim women as ‘Pakistani women’ and ‘no different to their grandmothers’ (Afshar 1989), not only undermine the upward mobility of British Muslim women but also shore up the racist and Islamophobic environment in the UK with the potential to do further harm to public mobilities, visibilities and diverse expressions.
2 - COVID-19, Health Inequalities and the Lived Experience of British Muslims
- Edited by Sufyan Abid Dogra, Bradford Institute for Health Research
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- Book:
- British Muslims, Ethnicity and Health Inequalities
- Published by:
- Edinburgh University Press
- Published online:
- 18 October 2023
- Print publication:
- 31 January 2023, pp 19-46
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Summary
COVID-19, Health Inequalities and British Muslims
Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19: death rates are higher and survival rates are lower, with statistics varying in different BME communities (Public Health England 2020b). BME communities are at risk of higher infection rates and mortality rates due to certain pre-disposed health conditions and living in poorer, overcrowded housing (Meer et al. 2020). These higher infection and mortality rates together with the fear of spreading the virus or catching it from others have caused further distress. Ethnic minorities in Britain have experienced a disproportional impact of COVID-19, as for these groups the pandemic was translated as a syndemic pandemic (Bambra et al. 2020) because of pre-pandemic inequalities on all social determinants of health such as unhealthy dietary practices, poor housing and working conditions, unemployment, poor access to healthcare, high levels of inactivity and discrimination that ethnic minorities and the majority of British Muslims live with.
This chapter highlights the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on British Muslims and how the pandemic exposed prevalent health inequalities in the UK. We critically analyse the discussions around faith in relation to COVID-19, victim blaming, its impacts and the socioeconomic consequences of COVID-19 lockdowns on marginalised British Muslims. We evaluate the vulnerabilities of British Muslims working in the NHS and healthcare and the responses by professional Muslim organisations providing healthcare awareness. We explore the interplay of ethnicity, religion and deprivation in negotiating the particular challenges of living through COVID-19. We critically evaluate and problematise the notions around ‘vaccine hesitancy’, and question the emphasis on national religious organisations of British Muslims for responses to COVID-19 instead of professional medical organisations or small-scale community-based organisations. We assess the impact of COVID-19 on British Muslim families, children, charity and voluntary organisations, physical activity, mental health and wellbeing, and how British Muslims living in deprived neighbourhoods responded to the pandemic through engaging with community groups. We highlight the work of neighbourhood and community-based organisations and services for healthcare awareness by professional Muslim groups. This chapter also includes multidisciplinary perspectives of academics and practitioners on the pandemic, lockdown, vaccination and subsequent socioeconomic implications of COVID-19 with regard to British Muslims’ lived experience.
10 - Islamophobia Makes Us Sick: The Health Costs of Islamophobia in the UK
- Edited by Sufyan Abid Dogra, Bradford Institute for Health Research
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- Book:
- British Muslims, Ethnicity and Health Inequalities
- Published by:
- Edinburgh University Press
- Published online:
- 18 October 2023
- Print publication:
- 31 January 2023, pp 207-240
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Summary
Introduction
Racial inequities in social and health outcomes are well documented. However, understanding the impact of Islamophobia, one of the most prevalent discriminatory systems, is limited. In this chapter I look at Islamophobia as a global and intersectional system of oppression, exploitation and exclusion which produces discrimination, disadvantage and disparities. These shape British institutions and society and impact the health of structurally pathologised populations and individuals. I draw on cross-disciplinary frameworks to analyse the multiple pathways through which Islamophobia directly, indirectly and intersectionally causes health inequities, mediating its effects through structural and social determinants, stigma and embodiment. I integrate public health and rights-based approaches with a unifying focus on ethics and justice to advocate the need to eliminate health inequities caused by Islamophobia.
A Brief History of Muslim Migration in the UK
Islam is the second largest religion in the UK with 2.8 million people, half of whom were born in the UK (ONS 2011; Elahi and Khan 2017). The presence of Islam in Europe spans centuries. Islamic culture influenced the arts, architecture, medicine, music, language, agriculture, law, education and technology in medieval Europe, laying the foundations of the European Renaissance (Essa and Ali 2012).
The majority of British Muslims have their origins in South Asia, reflecting British colonial legacy, but this demographic is shifting (MCB 2015). Muslim presence in the UK can be traced back to hundreds of years ago, when lascars and sailors arrived from the Indian subcontinent, South-East Asia and parts of the Middle East to work on docks (Ansari 2004). It was after the Second World War that destruction and labour shortages stimulated large-scale recruitment of British Commonwealth citizens, many of who were Muslim. Once the labour shortage was ameliorated, legislation was introduced by the British government to end large-scale migration, and after the 1970s migration shifted away from economic reasons to political and humanitarian emergencies, with refugees arriving from the the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia, and asylum seekers from the Muslim-majority European countries of Bosnia and Kosovo, creating an increasingly ethnically diverse community (Elahi and Khan 2017).