It is not quite cricket: Muslim immigrants' accounts of integration into UK society

Abstract

Recent events demonstrate the need for greater understanding of intercultural relations between Muslim minorities and majority of cultures in host societies. We examine British Muslims' descriptions of their experiences of acculturation. Data from interviews with first‐generation Muslims were analysed by using discourse analysis. Participants' descriptions reflect the acculturation possibilities made available in local interactional contexts. Where invited to choose between assimilation and separation, participants provide ‘trouble‐telling’ accounts that detail the difficulties involved. In contexts involving integration, participants account for their own efforts. By contrast, contexts that allow participants to introduce acculturation in their own terms lead to descriptions of acculturation success. Thus, participants' accounts of relations with British culture reflect not simply orientations towards acculturation but rather how acculturation is framed and negotiated in local contexts: The success or failure of intercultural relations reflects as much how the issues are presented as they do immigrants' acceptance or non‐acceptance of British culture.

Acculturation as intergenerational trajectory and accountability concerns in immigrant youth discourse

“…It tends to reinforce, though, the idea that in actual interactional contexts, the ways in which acculturation matters are discussed by participants are highly influenced by concerns related to a number of contextual/interactional factors, including the way in which the interviewer or other social actors are positioned. This finding suggests that interview data, approached as a specific type of interaction, although may not afford general inferences concerning precisely when and how specific types of accounting are used, they provide valuable information on social routines (see also Anjum et al, 2018). Furthermore, it has important implications not only in the field of research but also in the domain of institutional policy, since interviews that explore issues concerned with acculturation are part and parcel of institutionalized practices that constitute a prerequisite of citizenship acquisition or immigrants’ reception in many national contexts (Gray and Griffin, 2014; Johnston, 2008).…”

“…It has paid less attention, however, to participants’ orientation to issues of acculturation, in order to manage their accountability in local interactional contexts. An exception to this tendency constitutes a study by Anjum et al (2018). The authors have focused on the ways in which accountability is managed within the context of interviews on the cultural adaptation of first-generation Muslim immigrants in the United Kingdom.…”

Agency and Accountability in (Un)Employment-Related Discourse in the Era of “Crisis”

“…According to some authors (Potter & Hepburn, 2005) interviews, in contrast to naturally occurring talk, can tell us very little about everyday life. However, other work shows that researcher-led interviews provide valuable insights into how participants make sense of the topics at hand (Kirkwood, McKinlay, & McVittie, 2013) and approached as a specific type of interaction may provide valuable information on social routines (see also Anjum, McVittie, & McKinlay, 2018).…”

Space, time, and urban citizenship: Reconsidering migrant integration in critical social psychological research

“…A critical look on acculturation narratives has been also advanced by Anjum et al. (2018). The authors highlighted the different possibilities of narrating one's acculturation trajectories occasioned by different rhetorical contexts.…”

“…In this line of work, some commentators who have focused on the refugee/migrants' discourses and experiences of integration (Andreouli, 2013; Anjum et al., 2018; Bucken‐Knapp et al., 2019; Figgou et al., 2019), highlighted the temporal and dynamic aspects of migrants' formulations of integration. More specifically, in her study, Andreouli (2013) depicted acculturation as a complex process which involves the relation with significant others, transnational/transcultural subjectivities and negotiation of social values.…”