Young Muslims, Stigma and the Work of Normality

Abstract

Contemporary Islamophobia in many western contexts manifests as heightened suspicion and processes of surveillance that can construct Muslim bodies and identities as ‘abnormal’ and errant. Here we draw on Goffman’s work on normality and stigma to explore strategies employed by young Muslim Australians to negotiate their constitution as abnormal. We identify four key strategies: performing ordinary Australianness; social distancing; being a ‘supernormal’ hero of adjustment; and defiance. We consider how centring these everyday, embodied techniques of the social production of normality makes evident the constrained agency of young Muslims in times of amplified fear and regulation.