Inclusive and Included? Practices of Civic Inclusivity of American Muslims in Los Angeles

Abstract

How do American Muslims practice inclusivity and bridge religious differences in U.S. civic life? Sociological research on bridging focuses mostly on bridging efforts on the part of majority groups, leaving unanswered the timely question of if and how inclusivity is practiced by minority groups, particularly religious minorities, in U.S. civic spaces. Drawing on participant observation among two Muslim groups in Los Angeles, this paper identifies two practices of inclusivity that participants adopt to bridge religious difference: the interreligious heritage practice and the shared ethics practice. Both practices simultaneously draw and diffuse group boundaries, emphasize sameness, albeit using different sets of religious meanings, and are grounded in an understanding of civic spaces as implicitly exclusionary of minorities. I find that these practices can create tension points in the pursuit of mutual understanding and create textures of meanings that operate differently depending on the situation and the participants in the interaction.

Canadian politicians' rhetoric on Twitter/X: Analysing prejudice and inclusion towards Muslims using structural topic modelling and rhetorical analysis

“…This was significant given rhetorical tropes of outgroup insularity (e.g., ‘ghettos’), which are a common way to delegitimize the presence of minority ethno‐religious identities (e.g., Hogan & Haltinner, 2015). Additionally, the invocation of shared values can cultivate ‘we‐ness’ (Reicher et al., 2006) and is something Muslim groups themselves have done in contexts where they are a religious minority (Cantori, 2022). Finally, subgroup‐specific religious practices were acknowledged and celebrated by most parties, which included using these to cultivate shared values.…”