Globalised Muslim youth : a study of Singapore and Sydney

Abstract

This thesis is a sociological study of Muslim youth culture in two globalised cities in the Asia Pacific, Singapore and Sydney. This research compares two groups of youth living in secular multicultural cities, across three aspects of popular culture: hip-hop music, tattooing and cultural consumption. The two case studies illuminate a range of attitudes adopted by young Muslims, which demonstrates strategies employed to reconcile popular youth culture with piety. The research explores the extent to which globalisation results in a convergence of popular culture among young Muslims in Singapore and Sydney. It argues that while globalisation does bring about a certain degree of convergence, different state and societal structures in place play a significant role in bringing about different manifestations of Muslim youth culture. As an extension, the thesis explores how different forms of religious management by the authoritarian and liberal models of the Singapore and Sydney states respectively function as crucial mediators of popular Muslim youth culture. This thesis argues against the conventional view of the cultural alienation of minority Muslim youth that promotes the idea of a clash of civilisations and the radicalisation of Muslim youth thesis. Rather, it posits that global cultural flows and forms of piety interact with locally promulgated forms of popular culture, which Muslim youth partake at varying degrees. The dynamic nature of Muslim youth culture is set against attempts by the state, religious leaders and other gatekeepers of particular popular cultural domains who seek to maintain a -puritan and -contained' view of youth culture. Hence, these demonstrate a plurality of religious rationalities amidst an individualisation of views by young Muslims. These result in some young Muslims existing in the interstices of local youth culture that increasingly conflicts with the globalising and multicultural realities of youth in Singapore and Sydney.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English