Religious contestation and Islamophobia among Iranian communities residing in the Greater Toronto area and York region

McMaster Alumna Shirin Khayambashi’s recent article in the Canadian Review of Sociology explores ingroup Islamophobia experienced by Iranian communities residing in GTA and YR.

Shirin Khayambashi’s Canadian Review of Sociology article explores the invisible ingroup Islamophobia experienced by many Muslim Iranians settled in the Greater Toronto Area and York Region.  Khayambashi’s article examined these issues based on the qualitative data collected during the six months of participant observation and semi-structured interviews toward completing her PhD in the Department of Sociology at McMaster. The ingroup contestation reveals itself in various forms of microaggression and discriminatory behaviours to set communal boundaries, which stigmatizes and limits the Iranian practicing Muslims. This paper explores the Iranian religious identity and relates with Iranian history, Western Islamophobia and the ongoing non-Islamiosity.

Dr. Khayambashi’s article is available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12485