Islam, Gender and Migrant Integration: The Case of Somali Immigrant Families

Islam, Gender and Migrant Integration: The Case of Somali Immigrant Families
Nahla al Huraibi
January 2014

ISBN-13:  978-1-59332-600-5 / Hardcover
Dimensions:  5.5 x 8.5 / x, 218 pages

Price   $70.00

Description

Al Huraibi addresses three questions: how do Somali immigrants negotiate gender notions and practices between those maintained in Somali culture and those adopted from mainstream American culture; how immigrants’ understandings of Islamic writings on gender shape the negotiation process and how the integration process shapes their understanding of Islamic gender discourse; and to what extent resultant gender perceptions and practices reflect the transnational integration and cultural hybridism of two or more cultures. Al Huraibi concludes that respondents’ cross-cultural selection of aspects from both cultures indicates a transnational pattern of integration in a globalized world. She argues, contrary to common perceptions, that Islam enables Muslim immigrants to distance themselves from certain aspects of the culture left behind and to embrace aspects from the host culture. All in order to be better Muslims.

About the Author

Nahla al Huraibi has had a long teaching career in Sociology, Arabic, and Islamic Studies. She began teaching in 2005 at Ohio State University, moved on to Denison University, and is currently at Kenyon College. She earned her PhD in Rural Sociology from Ohio State University in 2009. She is the first author of an article published in Humanity & Society, Sage Publications.