Making Muslimness explores how British Muslims navigate the United Kingdom's sociopolitical and religious tensions through performance in everyday life.
Drawing on nearly two years of interdisciplinary research in Manchester during the late 2010s and early 2020s, this book examines diverse contexts - from devised theatre projects to public processions to the aftermath of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack. It distinguishes between Islam as a religion and Muslimness as a performed identity, arguing that Muslimness emerges through negotiation based on individuals' relationships to Islam's social construction. Through theatre-making, ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and media analyses, the book deconstructs the racialized British assumption that equates Muslim identity with Asian heritage. Instead, it reveals a resilient British Muslim counterpublic that builds solidarity, challenges harmful narratives, and creates socially just artistic spaces. The work bridges theatre and performance studies with anthropologies of Islam, Britain, and youth while addressing intersections of Muslimness with race, gender, sexuality, age, and Britishness.
This book is essential reading for scholars and students in performance studies, religious studies, sociology, and cultural studies who are interested in contemporary Muslim identities, performance, and the politics of belonging in multicultural Britain.
| ISBN: | 9781032547510 |
| Publication date: | 9th March 2026 |
| Author: | Asif Majid |
| Publisher: | Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 256 pages |
| Series: | Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies |
| Genres: |
Theatre studies Popular culture Performance art Sociology Religion: general Islam |
Making Muslimness explores how British Muslims navigate the United Kingdom's sociopolitical and religious tensions through performance in everyday life.
Drawing on nearly two years of interdisciplinary research in Manchester during the late 2010s and early 2020s, this book examines diverse contexts - from devised theatre projects to public processions to the aftermath of the 2017 Manchester Arena attack. It distinguishes between Islam as a religion and Muslimness as a performed identity, arguing that Muslimness emerges through negotiation based on individuals' relationships to Islam's social construction. Through theatre-making, ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, and media analyses, the book deconstructs the racialized British assumption that equates Muslim identity with Asian heritage. Instead, it reveals a resilient British Muslim counterpublic that builds solidarity, challenges harmful narratives, and creates socially just artistic spaces. The work bridges theatre and performance studies with anthropologies of Islam, Britain, and youth while addressing intersections of Muslimness with race, gender, sexuality, age, and Britishness.
This book is essential reading for scholars and students in performance studies, religious studies, sociology, and cultural studies who are interested in contemporary Muslim identities, performance, and the politics of belonging in multicultural Britain.
Making Muslimness features in the following genres: Theatre studies, Popular culture, Performance art, Sociology, Religion: general, Islam
Making Muslimness is available in Hardback
Making Muslimness was written by Asif Majid and published by Routledge an imprint of Taylor & Francis
Making Muslimness has 256 pages
Yes it is part of Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies series
£154.79