In a theme that resonates well with Contending Modernities, Khan has consistently spoken of his (and everyone’s) multiple identities, in his case these being: British, European, Western, Pakistani-origin, Muslim, human rights lawyer, the son of a bus driver and a product of a working-class council estate home. Thus, Khan’s election has the potential to be hugely inspiring and empowering to “minority” or “underdog” groupings, like Barack Obama’s election victory in 2008. Read the full article »

There is no doubt the election of Sadiq Khan is a momentous occasion, a shock to the xenophobic fear-mongering flooding Europe from the UK to Greece. But we should not fetishize the fact that he is a Muslim, but rather celebrate the tenacity of a working-class immigrant family to raise a child with the audacity to imagine himself running such a magnificent city. His Muslim background and demeanor, his family’s Muslim names, his use of the Qur’an in his official ceremonies, all signal a significant symbolic register in European self-consciousness: Muslims are here, and are here to stay. Read the full article »

The recent London mayoral election was never going to be a run-of-the-mill poll no matter what the gadflies might have told us about Muslims having a long history of running Western cities. Not in this moment, in which Muslims figure in Western public opinion as a threat to civilizational order near and far. On the contrary, coming just one day after Donald Trump’s rise as presumptive Republican nominee for the Presidency of the United States, the election of Sadiq Khan, son of working-class Pakistani immigrants and a practicing Muslim, could only have been an exceptional moment. Read the full article »

The framework of radicalization, extremism, and terror may seem a grim background to be celebrating the election of Sadiq Khan as the Mayor of London and, indeed, the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital. But it is a necessary one in order to appreciate the importance and potential of the moment. The burden of being a demographic “first” is never an easy one, especially for “firsts” laden with social, cultural, and political symbolism—for that we can observe the many trials, tribulations, and, at times, the missed opportunities of the presidency of Barack Obama in the US. Read the full article »