Honor, shame and the politics of sexual embodiment among South Asian Muslims in Britain and beyond

An analysis of debates in the public sphere

תקציר

The rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Europe seems to be tangibly signalled by an increase in women and young girls wearing the Muslim veil, the hijab. In France, this has led to the legal banning of all headscarves and other religious symbols in state schools, in the name of French secularism. Yet, although inspired perhaps by the same sort of global Islamic rhetoric that moves the extremists, veiled Muslim women in the UK are often responding to local pressures that have arisen as they begin to develop a generational consciousness that sets them apart from their parents. In Britain, the issue of veiling at school has been settled pragmatically, within the framework of a multi-faith, multicultural society. The politics of embodiment surrounding the Muslim community in Britain are, however, equally acute. “Honor” killings and "forced" intercontinental marriages capture media headlines, and these have led to a public debate in the press and media, and in the speeches ofpoliticians, regarding the right of an older generation of South Asians to control the sexuality and reproductive powers of young people, particularly younger women ’s bodies, in the name of “honor and shame " The paper considers these issues comparatively, within the broader context of ongoing debates on multiculturalism.