|
While policymakers and analysts debate the finer points of integration, assimilation and immigration policy, Kavitha Rajagopalan's recently released book "Muslims of Metropolis: The Stories of Three Immigrant Families in the West," deepens the conversation about immigration by featuring personal stories of families who have made the move west to New York, London and Berlin. The book keys in on the families' reasons for leaving, the journey itself and the families' navigation of new norms, cultures and societies.
Tracing the contours of the complex geographic and personal journeys of Muslim mothers, fathers and children, Rajagopalan takes readers deep into the thoughts, conversations and everyday experiences of individuals attempting to find a new home for themselves in a strange land not only full of new languages and social conventions but, more importantly, post-9/11 suspicions and fears.
Moving beyond a monolithic conception of the global Muslim community, Rajagopalan's book delves into the experiences of three families of Kurdish, Palestinian and Bangladeshi descent, respectively, and in the process gives readers the opportunity to explore the diverse global Muslim community and its multitude of practices, cultures, languages and ethnicities.
Kavitha Rajagopalan is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute. She grew up on the East Coast and holds a bachelors degree from the College of William and Mary and a master's degree from Columbia University. Her idea for writing this book emerged while she was a Fulbright Scholar in Germany where she studied Turkish political identity in Berlin. Her Web site is http://kaviraj.typepad.com.
Posted on October 20, 2008
|
