The Precariousness of South Asian Muslim Americans: Geopolitics, Islamophobia, and the Model Minority Myth

• In Event: 3141 - Borders and Boundaries in Asia and Asian America

Abstract

Precariousness refers to the notion that most of the world’s population is engaged in unstable, informal, and temporary employment, thus inducing in them feelings of vulnerability, displacement, and hopelessness. South Asian Americans hardly comprise a group that many would describe as precarious. Rather, this mostly foreign-born population has long been lauded as a racial minority that has “made it” in America because of their high levels of education and economic attainments. However, ethnographic observations on Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian Muslim immigrants and their offspring reveals a collective precariousness of this so-called “successful” immigrant group. Despite their measures of success that one would expect to provide them with a sense of security, their positionality as a racialized “outsider” group combined with the stigma attached to their religious identity in post-9/11 America induce in them a sense of insecurity. They fear that despite their achievements, they will never be viewed to belong in the U.S. society, and can be discriminated against in their workplace because of their race and religion. This anxiety in turn influences various aspects of their life’s decision-making, including education, career choices, and political engagements. Moreover, this article shows that South Asian Muslim Americans’ precariousness is influenced by that of Muslims of other nationalities and ethnic groups abroad. Thus, it underscores the transnational dimension of precariousness, and how its reach can extend beyond one’s immediate social networks, and even physical borders and societal boundaries.

Author

• Tahseen Shams, University of Toronto