Liminal lives : presentation of self among Muslim immigrants in a small Midwestern city

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The premise of this study is that Muslim immigrants living in a small Midwestern city strategically take different ways of presenting self to help them survive their life in a new and different environment. These strategic choices of action, besides being influenced by their personal values, are heavily influenced by various external conditions such as social, cultural, historical, and geopolitical backgrounds, occupation, neighborhood, and group affiliation, as well as race, gender, sexuality, and class backgrounds. Following Brekhus' framework of identity presentation, I propose a typology of identity presentation among Muslim immigrants in this small Midwestern city. Muslim immigrants in this research study can be classified broadly into three categories of identity, which are "Muslim lifestylers," "Muslim commuters," and "Muslim integrators." The Muslim commuters are divided further into three groups that consist of Muslim immigrants who commute from "Muslim setting to race/ethnic setting," from "Muslim setting to occupation setting," and from "Muslim-setting to class/status setting."