Incomplete lives: experiences of Islamophobia as governmentality in education and employment in Flanders, Belgium

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses Muslim experiences of differential treatment in Flanders, Belgium, and builds on theories of Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism and a form of governmentality. I argue that Islamophobia understood as historically and structurally embedded, residing in social institutions rather than personal intentions or actions, operates in coercive and subtle ways to steer, structure and limit Muslim life courses. The analysis draws from forty semi-structured life story interviews conducted between 2020 and 2022 with mainly second and third-generation immigrants. Education and employment are prime domains where differential treatment restricts life aspirations and effectively governs Muslims’ life choices. Female respondents view a headscarf ban in education and job offerings conditional on veil removal as “a rejection of the (Muslim) self”, at times leading to veil decision fatigue. Respondents offered mixed prospects for the future, with some expressing a desire to leave Belgium in search of better opportunities for self-realization.

KEYWORDS:

• Islamophobia
• racialization and racism
• discrimination
• Muslims in Europe
• governmentality
• hijab

Acknowledgements

I want to thank Ayhan Kaya and the two anonymous reviewers of an earlier version of this manuscript for their constructive comments and suggestions. I am also grateful to my co-researchers and team members for the opportunity to share thoughts and support during this project: Metin Koca, Ayşenur Benevento, Max-Valentin Robert, Melanie Weißenberg, Merel Zuurbier and Lalla Amina Drhimeur.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The necessary ethical approval was granted by the evaluating Horizon 2020 committee.

2 The academic performance gap between disadvantaged and higher socio-economic status pupils is among the largest in Europe (PISA 2018). Members of ethnic and religious minorities are overrepresented in the group of students with lower socio-economic status. The schooling system is characterized by an early tracking system or ability grouping from the first grade in secondary school onwards, at the age of twelve. Pupils are not allocated to tracks but select one on the basis of prior achievement and advice from school counsellors and teachers. The general/academic track is given a higher status than technical and vocational tracks by teachers, parents and pupils. Pupils who start in the general track and fail have to change tracks which is perceived as “moving downwards”. This system is commonly known and referred to as a “cascade” (Van Praag et al. 2019, 162).

Additional information

Funding

This project was funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, agreement number 785934.