Conclusion: Reimagining Belonging in Modern Times
For over a decade now, Muslim communities living in the United States have been subjected to much public handwringing about the extent to which they can be included within the imagined national community.
Popular cultural and political discourses position Muslims as belonging to “Other” places - imaginative geographies seen as inimical to “Western” liberal, democratic values. Young people from Muslim communities have had to figure out what it means to fashion themselves as citizens - to develop a sense of belonging and learn to act upon the social, cultural, and political landscapes across which their lives unfold.Research with and about youth from Muslim immigrant communities in the United States tells two important stories. The first is that contrary to the moral panic about Muslim communities that have gripped many Americans (and Europeans) since 9/11, the majority of youth from Muslim communities are not alienated from US society. They are articulate about the ways their communities have been racialized by the cultural politics of the “war on terror,” and as a result, similar to other racially minoritized communities, they often feel a sense of being on the margins of the unfulfilled promises of American equality. However, for many this spurs a commitment to the realization of those promised rights for all.
The second story is perhaps the more important one. It suggests that nationalist longing for affiliation to one nation-state no longer reflects facts on the ground of modern globalization. Young people from Muslim immigrant communities (similar to newcomers from many other communities) are creating enduring affective relationships across transnational fields. Transnational communities illustrate the reality that increasingly, people residing in one nation-state may see themselves as belonging to other national imaginaries, and they may be affected by, and struggle for, the rights of people living elsewhere. For an increasing number of young people, transnationalism shapes their identities, political sensibilities, and capacities to participate both in this society and on a global stage. The commitment to and engagement with transnational issues must not be taken as a sign of disloyalty or a problem for citizenship but as opportunity to think about rights and justice across national borders and to develop activist citizenship practices that might realize a more just and peaceful world.