Current Institutional Affiliation
PhD, Anthropology, University of California / Berkeley
Award Information
2020
Institutional Affiliation (at time of award):
Anthropology, University of California / Berkeley
Securing the Mosque: The Transformation of Spiritual Space into Security Space in Muslim American Communities
In the past decade, over 300 mosques have been the target of violent attacks across the United States. In response to acts of vandalism, arson and defacement, Muslim communities have increasingly sought recourse in private security firms and F.B.I. partnerships in order to safeguard their sacred spaces against the threat of violence. This research examines how Muslim American communities in North Carolina and Virginia renegotiate their relationship to security and surveillance technologies, both in light of the hate violence directed at them by fellow citizens and the surveillance to which they have been subjected at the behest of U.S. government.