Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

International Students in England: Finding Belonging through Islam

2009; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 29; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13602000902726772

1469-9591

Lorraine Brown,

Global Education and Multiculturalism

Abstract This paper reports findings from an ethnographic study of the adjustment experience of a group of postgraduate international students at a university in the South of England. Friendship emerged as a major category of research, an aspect of which was the formation of a friendship group unified by a shared faith, namely Islam. Muslim students were drawn to create this network of friends by a desire to share the re-enactment of ritual associated with home, to reassert and to celebrate religious identity and to provide a bolster against a climate of Islamophobia. Acts of Islamophobic abuse are on the increase throughout the West and in the UK; this paper argues that international students become entangled in unresolved tension between the Muslim and non-Muslim sections of the British population, shedding light on the vulnerability of British Muslims and on the reception offered by the host community to international visitors to the UK. Notes Adrian Furnham and Stephen Erdmann, "Psychological and Sociocultural Variables as Predictors of Adjustment in Cross-cultural Transitions", Psychologia, Vol. 38, 1995, pp. 238–251; Young Yun Kim, Communication and Cross-cultural Adaptation, Clevedon, Multilingual Matters 1988; Colleen Ward and Andrew Kennedy, "The Measurement of Socio-cultural Adaptation", International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 23, No. 4, 1999, pp. 659–677; Colleen Ward, Interactions with International Students: Report Prepared for Education New Zealand, Victoria: Center for Applied Cross-Cultural Research, Victoria University of Wellington, 2005. Harry Wiseman, "Far Away From Home: The Loneliness Experience of Overseas Students", Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1997, pp. 277–298; Irving Yalom, Existential Psychotherapy, New York: Basic Books, 1980. H. Wiseman, "Far Away", op. cit.; A. Furnham and S. Erdmann, "Psychological and Sociocultural Variables", op. cit. Craig Storti, The Art of Crossing Cultures, Yarmouth, Maine: Intercultural Press, 1990. Stephen Bochner, Beverley McLeod and Anli Lin, "Friendship Patterns of Overseas Students", International Journal of Psychology, Vol. 12, 1977, pp. 277–294; J. Dyal and R. Dyal, "Acculturation Stress and Coping: Some Implications for Research and Education", International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 5, 1981, pp. 301–328. Erich Schild, "The Foreign Student, As Stranger, Learning the Norms of the Host Culture", Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 18, No. 1, 1962, pp. 41–54; Geert Hofstede, Culture's Consequences, London: Sage, 2001; Colleen Ward, The Impact of International Students on Domestic Students and Host Institutions, http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?layout=index&indexID=2107&indexparentid=1000 Colleen Ward and Weining Chang, "'Cultural Fit': A New Perspective on Personality and Sojourner Adjustment", International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 21, No. 4, 1997, pp. 525–533. Y. Kim, Communication, op. cit. Betty Leask, "A Holistic Approach to Internationalisation – Connecting Institutional Policy and the Curriculum with the Everyday Reality of Student Life", Education for Sustainable Development: Graduates as Global Citizens, Conference held at Bournemouth University, 10–11 September 2007; C. Ward, The Impact of International Students, op. cit. Y. Kim, Communication, op. cit. S. Bochner, B. McLeod and A. Lin, "Friendship Patterns", op. cit. Samuel Huntington, "The Clash of Civilisations?" Foreign Affairs, Vol. 72, 1993, p. 3; William Gudykunst, Bridging Differences: Effective Intergroup Communication, London: Sage, 1998; K. Cushner and A. Karim, "Study Abroad at University Level", in Intercultural Training, eds D. Landis, J. Bennett and M. Bennett, London: Sage, 2004, pp. 30–42. Henry De Wit (ed.), Strategies for Internationalisation of HE, Amsterdam: EAIE, 1995. Janette Ryan, "The Student Experience", in Teaching International Students: Improving Learning for All, eds J. Carroll and J. Ryan, London: Routledge, 2005, pp. 81–92. Y. Kim, Communication, op. cit. Farid Esack, "Pebbles in Our Shoes", Journal of International Education, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1993, pp. 67–73. Channel 4, What Muslims Want, TV programme broadcast on 7 August 2006 at 8 pm; John Rex, Ethnic Identity and Ethnic Mobilisation in Britain, Coventry: ESRC, 1991. J. Rex, Ethnic Identity, op. cit. UKCOSA, Student Statistics, 2006, available online at: http://www.ukcosa.org.uk/student statistics. Rageh Omar, Being Muslim in Britain, London: Penguin, 2006. Stephen Castle "Muslims on Front Line as Racism Rises across EU", Independent, 26 July 2005, available online at: news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1197272.ece; Madeleine Bunting, "It Takes More Than Tea and Biscuits to Overcome Indifference and Fear"; The Guardian, February 27, 2006, available online at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,1718632,00.html Seongjik Lee and Kelly Bradley, "Relation between General Self-efficacy, Assertiveness and Spirituality and Acculturative Stress among International Students", Self-efficacy, assertiveness and spirituality, Vol. 1, 2001, pp. 1–25. Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures, New York: Basic Books, 1973. Zygmunt Bauman, Culture as Praxis, London: Sage, 1999. R. Omar, Being Muslim, op. cit. Channel 4, What Muslims Want, op. cit. David Fetterman, Ethnography, London: Sage, 1998. UKCOSA, Student statistics, op. cit. G. Hofstede, Culture's Consequences, op. cit. D. Fetterman, Ethnography, op. cit.; James Spradley, The Ethnographic Interview, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979. Andrew Church, "Sojourner Adjustment", Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 91, No. 3, 1982, pp. 540–572; C. Ward, The Impact of International Students, op. cit. Martin Hammersley and Paul Atkinson, Ethnography Principles in Practice, London: Tavistock Publications, 1995. Christine Daymon and Immy Holloway, Qualitative Research Methods in Public Relations and Marketing Communications, London: Routledge, 2002. Channel 4, What Muslims Want, op. cit. Chris Barker, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, London: Sage, 2000. Mike Featherstone, Undoing Culture: Globalisation, Postmodernism and Identity, London: Sage, 1995. CAABU, Resource Library, 2006, available online at: www.caabu.org/index.asp?homepage=education&article=ed_briefings&detail=ramadan Anthony Giddens, Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age, Cambridge: Blackwell, 1991. Adrian Furnham and Naznin Alibhai, "The Friendship Networks of Foreign Students", International Journal of Psychology, Vol. 20, 1985, pp. 709–722. Office for National Statistics, Neighbourhood Statistics, London, 2001, available online at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census/default.asp Anita Jacobson-Widding, Identity: Personal and Socio-cultural, Uppsala: HSFR, 1983. Ray Honeyford, Integration or Disintegration? Towards a Non-racist Society, London: The Claridge Press, 1988. Raymond Williams, Culture, Glasgow: Fontana, 1981. R. Omar, Being Muslim, op. cit. Channel 4, What Muslims Want, op. cit. R. Omar, Being Muslim, op. cit. Ibid.; M. Bunting, "It Takes More", op. cit.; S. Castle, "Frontline", op. cit. John Brewer, Ethnography, Buckingham: Oxford University Press, 2000. A. Giddens, Modernity, op. cit. Rachel Briggs, The Kidnapping Business, London: Foreign Policy Centre, 2001, available online at: http://fpc.org.uk/publications/111. M. Bunting, "It Takes More", op. cit. A. Giddens, Modernity, op. cit. Walter Stephan and Cookie Stephan, "Reducing Intercultural Anxiety Through Intercultural Contact", International Journal of Intercultural Relations, Vol. 16, 1992, pp. 89–106. Ernest Goffman, Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1963. Jeffrey Sobal, "Sociological Analysis of the Stigmatisation of Obesity", in A Sociology of Food and Nutrition, eds J. Germov and L. Williams, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 113–135. Paul Schmitz, "Acculturation and Adaptation Processes among Immigrants in Germany", in A.M. Bouvy, et al. (eds), Journeys into Cross-cultural Psychology, Amsterdam: S&Z Publishers, 1994, pp. 125–129. Stig Berg, "Loneliness in the Swedish Aged", Journal of Gerontology, Vol. 36, No. 3, 1981, pp. 342–349. Harold Becker, "The Self and Adult Socialisation", in The Study of Personality, eds E. Norbeck, et al., New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968, pp. 154–167. George Ritzer, "Assessing the Resistance", in Resisting McDonaldisation, ed. B. Smart, London: Sage, 1999, pp. 124–131. Featherstone, Undoing Culture, op. cit.