Geographies of Citizenship: Muslim Youth in Post-9/11 United States

Abstract

This chapter examines two key questions about youth from Muslim-majority countries and communities living in the United States after 9/11. How are these children and youth positioned in the US national imaginary by imaginative geographies of war? In turn, how do they develop a sense of belonging and citizenship in this post-9/11 context of exclusion and war? An exploration of these questions illustrates the ways that violence, conflict, and war shape the lives of these young people from transnational Muslim communities both in active conflict zones but also in contexts of relative peace such as the United States. Many youth from Muslim transnational communities living in the United States migrated in order to get away from violence and wars – violence and wars that have often been an outcome of US imperial policies. These experiences with war and violence shape young people’s political perspectives, sense of belonging, and citizenship practices in ways that make them critical of the unfulfilled promises of US democratic ideals – ideals that are rarely realized at home or abroad. At the same time, within the US context, cultural and political discourses engendered by the “war on terror” frame everyday interactions that youth from Muslim-majority communities have in their schools and other public spaces – interactions that often position these young people as suspect or dangerous members of the nation. These exclusions represent the local fallout of a violent, imperial policy the United States is fighting far from its shores.