British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End: The changing landscape of dress and language

Popular discourse around British Muslims has often been dominated by a focus on Muslim women and their sartorial choices, particularly the hijab and niqab. 

Dr. Fatima Rajina takes a different angle and focuses on Muslim men, examining how factors like the global war on terror influenced and changed their sartorial choices and use of language. Rajina’s new book denaturalises the ubiquitous and deeply problematic security lens through which knowledge of Muslims has been produced in the past two decades.

British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End offers an alternative reading of these communities and how their political subjectivities emerge. Drawing on historical events, field research and existing academic work, the book aims to address the multiple ways British Bangladeshi Muslim men and women create their relationship with dress and language. This book is the first to empirically examine how dress and language shape the identities of British Bangladeshi Muslims in the East End, using in-depth analysis useful for anyone interested in the study of British Muslims broadly. While the book focuses on a specific Muslim community, the emerging themes demonstrate the interconnectedness of Muslims locally and globally and how they manifest their identities through dress and language.

Speakers

Dr. Fatima Rajina is a Senior Legacy in Action Research Fellow at the Stephen Lawrence Research Centre at De Montfort University. Completing her Ph.D. at SOAS, Fatima's work looks at British Bangladeshi Muslims and their changing identifications and perceptions of dress and language. 

She specializes on the Bangladeshi community in the UK, with a focus on Tower Hamlets, Luton and Birmingham. Her book, British Bangladesh Muslims in the East End: The Changing Landscape of Dress and Language, was published in 2024 by Manchester University Press.