What is really happening when people either individually or in groups identify with particular definitions of themselves or strike out to take up new identities? Do gender, class and ethnicity offer some stability, or are they limiting?

The marginalisation of Muslims in India has recently been the subject of heated public debate. In these discussions, however, Muslim women are often either overlooked or treated as a homogenous group with a common set of interests. Focusing on the narratives of women living in a predominantly Muslim colony in South Delhi, this book attempts to demonstrate the complexity of their lives and the multiple levels of insecurity they face. Unlike other studies on Indian Muslims that focus on Islam as a defining factor, this book highlights the ways in which religious identity intersects with other identities including class/status, regional affiliation and gender. The author also sheds light on the impact of such events as the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and the subsequent riots, the Gujarat communal carnage in 2002, and the anti-Sikh violence in New Delhi in 1984, along with the rise of Hindutva, and growing Islamophobia experienced worldwide in the post-9/11 period — on the articulation of identities at the local level and increasing religion-based spatial segregation in Indian cities. The study highlights how these incidents combine in different ways to increase the sense of marginalisation experienced by Muslims at the level of the locality. Understanding the need to look beyond preconceived religious categories, this book will serve as essential reading for those interested in sociology, anthropology, gender, religious and urban studies, as well as policymakers and organisations concerned with issues related to religious minorities in India.

This reflexive, transcultural dialogue scholarship integrates autobiography alongside an in-depth, critical analysis of Eastern and Western philosophy. Moon revisits his cultural heritage providing rich narratives that debunk a universalized, Eurocentric approach to truth in the contemporary curriculum and social discourse. As an exploration of multiple versions of knowing and identities, The Flows of Transnationalism allows readers to extend and invent their own approaches to examining the fluidity of identities. Moon promotes diverse perspectives within curriculum studies by disrupting the self-other and cultural sameness-difference dichotomy. Amid the urgent need of developing anti-racist pedagogy, this book provides an innovative way to studying identities in a transnational context. This thought-provoking book on transculturalism, cultural identities, and curriculum is intended to benefit educators, university faculty, and interested members of the public. It is written for those who have the desire to learn and apply diverse approaches for engaging with cultural identities through lived experience and its sociopolitical interpretation.

This book offers a revision of psychoanalytic theory. It highlights how philosophical perspectives on language, embodiment, time, history, and conscious/unconscious experiences can contribute to clinical interpretations of gender, sexuality, race, age, culture, and class.

Why and how do contemporary questions of culture so readily become highly charged questions of identity? The question of cultural identity lies at the heart of current debates in cultural studies and social theory. At issue is whether those identities which defined the social and cultural world of modern societies for so long - distinctive identities of gender, sexuality, race, class and nationality - are in decline, giving rise to new forms of identification and fragmenting the modern individual as a unified subject. Questions of Cultural Identity offers a wide-ranging exploration of this issue. Stuart Hall firstly outlines the reasons why the question of identity is so compelling and yet so problematic. The cast of outstanding contributors then interrogate different dimensions of the crisis of identity; in so doing, they provide both theoretical and substantive insights into different approaches to understanding identity.

This new book takes a unique approach to the study of European enlargement, tackling key questions. What kind of understanding of the EU do the enlargement processes speak to? Do decisions to enlarge mainly suggest that the EU is a free market, focusing on potential economic gains? Do they indicate that there is a sense of common European identity? Or is the focus primarily on securing respect for democratic principles and human rights? Offering up-to-date studies of the EU enlargement processes and country-specific in-depth analyses, Questioning EU Enlargement will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of European studies, international relations and politics.

"[A] touching picaresque journey through the deserts of the west and the landscape of memory."--Washington Post Book World