Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance

This research addresses the novel responses by government to the role of religion in public life by investigating the emerging significance of Muslim religious values, practices and engagement within contemporary governance. It explores: how current government strategies and policies relating to citizenship recognise and respond to Muslim religious difference; how participatory forms of governance engage with Muslim groups, religious values and identities; and the impact of Muslims' participation in governance on policy processes and outcomes and for the organisation of and relations between Muslim civil society organisations more broadly.
The research explores these issues through analysis of national and local government policies and statements relating to citizenship, equalities, integration and diversity, considering how these refer to and recognise Muslim religious difference. This is extended by qualitative research with state and Muslim actors involved in participatory governance exploring how their understandings of religious identities, values and practices shape their engagement and the impact of this on policy processes and outcomes.
The research analyses and compares these processes at national and local levels investigating how different contexts may produce different governance practices and understandings of the role of Muslims in public life, and variations in local responses to national level policies and statements. The research explores how and why some Muslim groups and actors enter into governance at these levels, and the impact this has on relations between Muslim civil society organisations. These questions are investigated through empirical work at national level and in three localities: Birmingham, Leicester and Tower Hamlets. These areas are selected as they have significant, different and diverse Muslim populations, varying ethnic and religious demographic profiles and where the politics of governing religion and diversity are quite different.
The research team brings together wide-ranging expertise in the fields of governance, participation, Islam, multicultural citizenship, public policy and local politics and includes: Dr O'Toole (PI, University of Bristol), who has considerable research experience in the fields of political participation, governance, local and community politics and qualitative research; Professor Modood (CI, University of Bristol) who is a leading authority on multiculturalism, British Muslims and citizenship and has a track record of public engagement on these issues; Dr Meer (research consultant, University of Southampton) who has carried out extensive research on Muslim, multicultural and race equality politics; and an External Advisory Group of local and national publicly engaged experts. The team will also employ one Research Officer for 30 months to assist in research design and implementation and one Research Associate for 12 months to assist with local case-study fieldwork.
The research will inform current debates on multiculturalism, cohesion, citizenship, the role of religion - and particularly Islam - in public life, and the interplay between secular and religious values in participatory governance. It will be of value to academic, policy-maker and civil society audiences. The research will engage over the life of the project with these audiences by: working with an External Advisory Group; publishing outputs for academic audiences; hosting a national conference and three workshops in the three localities to engage academic, policy-maker, practitioner and civil society actors. The team will also produce a research report and policy briefings to maximise the impact of the research findings.

The research will engage with and benefit:
- policy-makers at national and local levels including representatives and officials from the DCLG and Home Office, Birmingham City Council, Leicester City Council and Tower Hamlets Borough Council. The team will feedback research findings to these audiences through workshops, policy briefing papers and invitation to the end of research conference.
- practitioners from think-tanks, including the IPPR, Demos, Young Foundation and Islamic Foundation. The team will build on existing contacts and links with External Advisory Group members to forge links with these organisations, to engage with them in discussing interim and final research findings and disseminate policy briefings to them. Representatives from these organisations will also be invited to the end of research conference.
- practitioners from equalities organisations, including the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and local level equalities units and diversity advisors. Contact with these actors will be established through the EAG and they will be invited to the end of research conference and included in policy briefings.
- local communities and Muslim third sector organisations in Birmingham, Leicester and Tower Hamlets. The team will invite those groups and actors that were contacted through, or who participated in, the research process to a local feedback workshop that will take place in each city. These workshops will focus on sharing and reflecting on experiences of participatory governance and policies relating to Muslim values and perspectives across localities. These local community and third sector organisations will also be invited to the end of research conference and to receive the final research report and policy briefings.
The team will share its findings with these audiences through distribution of hard copies and electronic versions of its final research report. These audiences will be invited to the end of research conference, which will feature a roundtable discussion, on which representatives from the above groups will be invited to participate.
The team will consult its External Advisory Group in relation to its dissemination strategy and seek opportunities to engage wider audiences through the activities of the EAG members and the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the University of Bristol.