Securitization and the intersectionality of bias: Voices of Māori and non-Māori women converts to Islam in post-Christchurch attack Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

Conversion (reversion) to Islam is on the rise in New Zealand. This is striking given that New Zealanders are becoming less interested in religion and have more negative attitudes toward Muslims than toward other religious groups. Islam’s growth is disproportionally strong among the Indigenous Māori community. This article discusses how New Zealand’s post-2019 Christchurch attack security context has affected Māori and non-Māori women converts to Islam. The findings are based on participant observation, two focus groups, and 15 interviews conducted across the country between 2021 and 2024. Drawing from the scholarship on securitization, intersectionality, and critical race theory, this article argues that the country’s post-Christchurch context has created new challenges for women converts to Islam generally. Yet it has particularly increased the vulnerability of hijabi Māori women, whose attachments to New Zealand and the Māori community have often been called into question. The article discusses what Islam means for women converts as a tool of resilience against marginalization and bias.