Narrative Identity: Transnational Practices of Pashtun Immigrants in the United States of America - Hardcover

by Trevor Castor (Author)

Narrative Identity is the product of seven years of research among Muslim immigrants living in America. This book will help you to understand the role that stories have in shaping how we see the world, ourselves, and others by exploring the process of identity formation for one of the most feared and least understood Muslim peoples in the world--the Pashtun. The Pashtun are most often associated with the Taliban and for harboring Osama bin Laden after the attacks on 9/11. For centuries, these people have been accustomed to war, and ethnic, tribal, and religious violence in the regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. As a result, the Pashtun are also one of the largest ethnic groups migrating throughout the West. More recently, their identity has been reduced to the violent actions of Islamic terrorism committed by a few Pashtun immigrants living in Western nations. This study explores the various factors that impact identity formation for Pashtun immigrants including transnationalism, social media, and the ongoing negative media attention concerning Islam and Muslims. This book helps readers understand the nuances of identity formation which are critical to consider in order to avoid the crude categorizations so often associated with identity politics.

Author Biography

Trevor Castor is the Director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies at Columbia International University. He is also a professor of Muslim-Christian Relations and host of the Podcasts Truth about Muslims and Muslims, Christians and the Zombie Apocalypse. He completed a PhD in Muslim-Christian Relations through the Australian College of Theology and his research interests are in the field of cognitive anthropology.