Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture

Muslim Youth in Canada?: Collective Identities, Attitudes of “Otherment” and Canadian Muslim Perspectives on Radicalism
Erin Geneva Mac Donald

Abstract
This paper is based on a larger MA thesis that explores the collective identities of Muslims in Canada, and how their experiences as a religious minority have shaped their collective identity. It also explores attitudes of ‘otherment’, out-group suspicion and how disenfranchisement among certain individuals may result in a distortion of the Islamic religion. For the purposes of this paper, perceptions of the efforts of the Canadian state to integrate Muslims, the existence of islamophobia among Canadians in general and the potential disenfranchisement and vulnerability of Muslim youth to radicalization are explored. The collaborative role that Muslims must take alongside agents of the Canadian state in order to prevent radicalism (i.e. Canadian police forces) is also examined. The research relies primarily on in-depth interviews with 5 individuals, Muslims of various ages and backgrounds who were born in Canada as second-generation immigrants, who had become Canadian citizens. Their opinions on the role of the Muslim community in preventing radicalism in the Canadian context are explored and contextualized.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jisc.v3n2a1