Making Muslimness
Race, Religion, and Performance in Contemporary Manchester
1st Edition
Published on 9. March 2026
Book
Hardback
186 pages
978-1-032-54751-0 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
Reviews / Votes
'Making Muslimness is essential reading for those who wish to dive into cultural and political performances of Muslimness in the United Kingdom as negotiated through performance. Majid's ethnographic work, artistic practice, and critical interventions remind us of the possibilities of political critique that emerge from openly sharing our lived experiences. This is a beautifully written book that invites its readers to think about religion, identity, and culture with political urgency that makes this book necessary for the field of theatre and performance studies.'Noe Montez, Associate Professor of Theater Studies (Emory University)
'Making Muslimness offers a compelling - even groundbreaking - approach to understanding 'Muslimness' on its own terms, rather than through external, reductive lenses. Majid seamlessly integrates collaborative theatre-making, autoethnography, and meticulous ethnographic fieldwork to illuminate how Mancunian Muslims negotiate their complex, fluid identities in everyday and staged performances - particularly in the aftermath of a shattering act of violence. Majid's approach masterfully reveals 'Muslimness' as a dynamic, relational, and often political phenomenon. This is a bold, innovative book that reframes the study of Muslims in Britain with rigor, empathy, and creativity.'
Abdul-Rehman Malik, Associate Research Fellow (Yale Divinity School) and Director of the Muslim Leadership Lab (Yale University)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Undergraduate Core
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
473 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-54751-0 (9781032547510)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
E-Book
03/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Person
Asif Majid, PhD, writes fiction, (academic) non-fiction, and plays. He serves as Assistant Professor of Theatre and Human Rights at the University of Connecticut.
Content
Blessings and Shoutouts
Chapter 1. Origins and Directions
Chapter 2. How Not to Be a Threat: Performing Comfort, Innocence, and Familiarity after the Arena Attack
Chapter 3. Distance and Refusal: Finding Radical Absence in Pronouncement and Performance
Chapter 4. Confusing Muslim and Asian: Brownness, Bodies, and the Racial Politics of Public Space
Chapter 5. Theatre Workshop as Counterpublic: Experimenting and Playing with the Sociopolitics of Muslimness
Chapter 6. From Social and Sacred to Scripted and Staged: Devising The Wedding and Building a Community of Making
Chapter 7. The Muslim Counterpublic
Works Cited
About the Author
Index
Chapter 1. Origins and Directions
Chapter 2. How Not to Be a Threat: Performing Comfort, Innocence, and Familiarity after the Arena Attack
Chapter 3. Distance and Refusal: Finding Radical Absence in Pronouncement and Performance
Chapter 4. Confusing Muslim and Asian: Brownness, Bodies, and the Racial Politics of Public Space
Chapter 5. Theatre Workshop as Counterpublic: Experimenting and Playing with the Sociopolitics of Muslimness
Chapter 6. From Social and Sacred to Scripted and Staged: Devising The Wedding and Building a Community of Making
Chapter 7. The Muslim Counterpublic
Works Cited
About the Author
Index