Shari’a and Muslim Women’s Agency in a Multicultural Context: Recent Changes in Sports Culture

Abstract

This chapter argues that a recent backlash against multiculturalism in Australia is not about ‘multiculturalism’ as much as it is about the accommodation of Muslim minority groups in multicultural states. The chapter seeks to address concerns that some multicultural policies pose a threat to the cohesion of society and place women in a particularly vulnerable position. Drawing on the work of Will Kymlicka and Tariq Modood, we argue that multicultural policies have an important place in liberal democratic states and contribute to integration of minority groups into the wider society. Using a theoretical framework of Foucault’s work on power and resistance, and drawing on new empirical data, we argue that multicultural policies facilitate Muslim women’s resistance to existing discourses. We explore issues of Australian Muslim women’s agency, multiculturalism and Shari’a in select areas of Muslim women’s lives including their choice of dress, access to and utilization of both Australian and Islamic Family law, and participation in a key area of Australian cultural life, that of sport.