Understanding Muslims in Britain: events, aftermaths, atmospheres

Muslims have come to occupy a central role in discussions about citizenship and belonging in the UK. A cursory glance at the context surrounding this development reveals the importance of critical events in which Muslims are imbricated, and which help shape the discursive ground upon which Muslims/Islam are understood. This paper charts a number of critical events, beginning with the Rushdie Affair in 1989 through to the recent “war on terror” to consider how certain tropes emanate from these, and how through the workings of media and policy-making these gather velocity over time to pronounce themselves in an atmosphere, against and within which Muslim life should be apprehended.