The Impact of Islamophobia on Negotiating Identity, Belonging and Everyday Life: The Case of British Turks

British Turks have received little attention, scholarly and otherwise, in the contemporary context of the post-Brexit UK. Similarly, there are few empirical research studies that focus on the impact and consequences of Islamophobia in the lives of British Turks, despite the diverse Turkish-speaking communities in Britain. Addressing these gaps, this thesis critically examines different manifestations of Islamophobia experienced by British Turks, experiences which are always also negotiated alongside the racialisation of Muslims more broadly in the British context.

The thesis is structured as follows. First, the multiplicity of identities adopted by British Turks -pieced together from various sources, including patterns of diasporic upbringing, cosmopolitan lifestyle and political views such as conservative vs secular- is argued as an important point of reference in discussions within Islamophobia. Second is a critical analysis of the manifestations of Islamophobia in the everyday lives of British Turks, building beyond the notion that the racialisation of Muslims is only accomplished through ‘religion’. The significance of this study is that beyond physical appearance and religious clothing associated with Islam, British Turks are racialised via a myriad of other attributes, including a foreign name, occupation and socio-political views. This highlights the context-boundedness and the nuanced and covert nature of Islamophobia, which is not monolithic and/or undifferentiated. Third, I extend my research on how diversity in different spatial scales provides social contexts for coexistence and intercultural mingling for British Turks. These come as a precondition of belonging for British Turks in the face of Islamophobia.

The empirical data upon which this analysis is based consists of 30 semi-structured interviews with British Turks from different cities in England and Wales. Taking into account identity, belonging, and Islamophobia as social phenomena and analytical concepts, this research contributes to the literature on Islamophobia, concentrating particularly on the specific experiences of British Turks.