Islam in the School Curriculum

Abstract

Islam in the School Curriculum explores the conceptualisation of school-based Islam on two levels: as a symbolic category in English religious education as a consequence of policy shifts, and as pedagogic discourse at the local community level in state and Muslim schools. Using recontextualisation theory, the author examines the relations between educational governance, social interests and cultural epistemology as they pertain specifically to symbolic constructs. In the aftermath of September 11 2001, the teaching of Islam has assumed geopolitical significance, coming under close scrutiny internationally. Much of this attention has been directed at madrasas in Muslim countries, yet Islam in schooling contexts in the West has remained a blind-spot. In the UK, heightened anxieties about 'home-grown' terrorists point to the need for a better understanding of Islam in both state and faith schools. Shiraz Thobani explores the role played by national and local policies and pedagogic practices in the production of school-based Islam in a secular, liberal context and makes an important contribution to the sociology of the curriculum and the study of religious education.

Anti-Black Racism, Bio-Power, and Governmentality: Deconstructing the Suffering of Black Families Involved with Child Welfare

“…47 For Thobani, the growing post-war welfare state propelled white women's economic advancement as the beneficiaries of nascent social programs and through employment opportunities made available to them in the flourishing public sector. 48 The entry of white women from the private sphere into public sector employment not only provided the means by which they could enter the paid workforce but also opened pathways for these women to forge new claims as exalted national subjects, who embodied the nation-state's values of compassion, benevolence, and care. 49 These career and life opportunities in the nascent welfare system, which includes child welfare, cultivated for white women bonds of nationalistic kinship that "deepened the meaning of 'belonging' to the national community", and a national community that was committed to safeguarding the nation from the threat posed by the underserving racial Other.…”

“…49 These career and life opportunities in the nascent welfare system, which includes child welfare, cultivated for white women bonds of nationalistic kinship that "deepened the meaning of 'belonging' to the national community", and a national community that was committed to safeguarding the nation from the threat posed by the underserving racial Other. 50 Currently, the majority of the child welfare workforce in Canada is comprised of white women. For example, in 2008, 82 per cent of the workforce were white, 86 per cent were female, and mostly between 26-34 years old.…”

“…This fear of Blackness or Manicheanism operates dialectically to reveal a governmentality which involves tactics and methods that pathologize, marginalize, and even humiliate Black parents and their families on one hand, and on the other, constitutes child welfare workers/managers as compassionate, innocent, courageous, and exalted national subjects. 114 Recall, the youth cited earlier who stated, "I feel like staff are scared of us black kids, so they try to get rid of us quickly. They don't try to understand us."…”

What’s the trouble with humanity? A feminist critique of Judith Butler’s ethics of vulnerability

“…Such power relations, however, cannot be willed away, even by the most sophisticated and ardent of attempts of inclusion of 'others' in the category of the human. 69 Accusing Butler of relying on a generalized 'human' subject that conceals power relations is, to say the least, an unexpected critique of the author of Gender Trouble. But the most surprising thing is that this kind of critique, that seems completely out of place in Butler's early work, does highlight an important shortcoming in Butler's ethics.…”

The Transformation of Islamic Studies: An Ethical and Methodological Analysis

“…A few others say Islamic Studies refers to the academic study of Islam and Islam is taken as religion and religious traditions. It refers, according to some others such as Azim Nanji (1997), Richard C. Martin (1996) and Shiraz Thobani (2010), to the study of traditional forms of religious thought and rituals. For many, it is the discipline that focuses on the investigation of Islam as a faith and religion.…”