| This study analyzes the claims-making and counter-claims-making on citizenship and faith by American and Canadian Muslim political actors over the 2001-2008 period. It highlights the interactive processes by which competing discourses on citizenship and faith are negotiated to produce divergent constructions of Muslim citizenship: mainstream, liberal, secular, and progressive. Utilizing insights from theories of citizenship, collective identity and social movements, I show how divergent collective identities are produced within the same categorical group through complex interactions between: a) ideological baggage and biographies of claims-makers; b) demographic patterns of communities; c) historical tensions in the traditions and identities that are being negotiated; and d) the actual political constellations, both proximate and durable, in which such claims and counter-claims are being made. Moreover, such contests about collective identity, citizenship and faith are not only relevant for the group (American Muslim or Canadian Muslim), but also help highlight the inclusions, exclusions and blindspots in national narratives about belonging and hierarchies of obligations and how these are challenged. |
