Perception of Shari'a in Sydney and New York newspapers

Sydney and New York are instantly recognizable as 'global cities'. Saskia Sassen has argued that global cities function in four ways: first, as "highly concentrated command points in the organization of the world economy"; second, as key locations for finance and specialized service firms; third, as sites of production including innovations; and fourth, as markets for the products and innovations produced (2001: 3-4). While New York has long been regarded as one of the world's foremost great cities, Sydney is a relative newcomer to this rank and it may be argued that it has emerged particularly since the 2000 Olympics. Both cities are at the forefront in setting the political and financial agendas of their respective nations and play significant roles on the world stage. Significantly, Sydney and New York have sizeable Muslim populations and are also at the forefront of the debate about the place of legal pluralism and Shari'a within their respective nations.