Wearing the Niqab in the UK: Exploring the Embodied "Shape a Moral Action Can Take"

The niqab (Islamic face veil) frequently features in political controversies in the United Kingdom, where negative opinions of the niqab are reforged into political currency (such as the “burka ban” proposals) by conservative and liberal actors alike. Drawing from Saba Mahmood’s conceptualizations o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Subtitles:Wearing the Niqab in the United Kingdom
Main Author: Piela, Anna (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Oxford University Press [2019]
In: Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Great Britain / Islam / Niqab / Debate
IxTheo Classification:BJ Islam
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary:The niqab (Islamic face veil) frequently features in political controversies in the United Kingdom, where negative opinions of the niqab are reforged into political currency (such as the “burka ban” proposals) by conservative and liberal actors alike. Drawing from Saba Mahmood’s conceptualizations of agency and moral action, I analyze twelve interviews I conducted with niqab wearers in the UK. This article centers insider perspectives on the niqab, highlighting in particular the notion of choice to wear the niqab as well as discursive and physical navigation of social spaces. In distinguishing between mainstream discourses about niqab wearers and their own accounts, I argue that niqab wearers’ voices must be included in the public debate.
ISSN:1477-4585
Contains:Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfz002