The Power of Care: A Case Study on the Socio-Spatial Navigation of Muslim and Arab Immigrant Women in the City of Mississauga

Background: Drawing from interdisciplinary areas of scholarship and philosophical Islamic principles (Mortada, 2003) informing responsible community building processes, this research presents a contextual assessment that explores various underlying complexities impacting the lived experiences of Muslim immigrants in Canada. Scholarship on theoretical/conceptual frameworks of care and compassion is limited in planning literature and development praxis (Berkley, 2020). Literature on lived experiences of Muslims in North American cities have two major gaps: (1) the generalization of complex Muslim identities (Ali, 2008), and (2) the impacts of peripheralized formal care networks (Hackworth et al, 2012). In response, I aim to understand the barriers and facilitators to (re)building belonging and identity in a place of promised peace, freedom, and permanence for Muslim Arab immigrant women in Mississauga, a growing population group. Research Questions: 1) What are the Muslim and Arab immigrant women's networks of care in their communities and how do such spaces impact their sense of identity and belonging in place? 2) What are the social and physical barriers and facilitators to accessing formal and informal networks of care that foster a sense of belonging? Methods: I recruited eight participants who visibly-identify as Muslim (wear a Hijab or head veiling) Arab immigrant women living in Mississauga and used Sketch and Social Network Mapping (Gieseking, 2013), to enable them to share their perceived facilitators and barriers while seeking to (re)establish a sense of belonging, identity, and formal/informal networks of support in a new home away from home. Results: The findings reveal that the majority of formal spaces of care noted by participants (e.g., Mosques, Islamic classes, and age-friendly Islamic activities) are peripheralized from residential landscapes through discriminatory policy and zoning codes contesting their existence. Such places, however, are deemed integral in cultivating social and spiritual well-being, as well as a shared sense of belonging and attachment to place over time. This peripheralization not only imposes spatial barriers to equitably accessing formal and informal networks of specialized care and support (e.g., lack of public transportation, lack of age-specific services, etc.), but also hinders participants’ ability to feel like they belong in place, thus depleting their emotional well-being. Conclusion: This research begins to address the need to explore the diverse social identities of Muslims in Canada in variegated geographies. This is done through getting beyond the generalization/misinterpretation of their everyday lives and providing contextual understandings that meaningfully represent the complex lived realities of people, in place, across time. For planning practice, this information leads to recommendations for land use and formal care services planning policy changes, as well as the need to educate planners on these complexities to conduct meaningful engagement and build truly inclusive cities.