Political Islam and the Formation of Political Identity among Young Muslims in the West: A Comparative Study of Australian and Canadian Cases

Researchers:  Doctor S A Hamed Hosseini, Dr. Khalid Medani (McGill University)

Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research ASSA International Science Linkages Bilateral Program Active $7,465

Project Overview:

Of the greatest importance among the Post-Cold War socio-political issues is the role that global Islamism
has started to play. To what extent and in what ways, is the political identity of young Muslims in the West influenced by this global phenomenon? This project will create a primary in-depth data set and will develop a research program necessary to answer the above question in the context of Australia and Canada. It will use interviews and discourse analysis to explore and examine the social psychological mechanisms that facilitate the global translation of Islamist ideologies into the self-conceptions of young Muslim diaspora. It will establish a new cross-disciplinary framework for studying ideology-identity nexus and relate a global phenomenon to a local issue. At the time of growing inter-cultural tensions, this study creates a new insight into the underlying factors of such problems and highlights possible strategic policies for multi-cultural integration.