The question of Muslim identity-and, more specifically, Muslim masculinities, political loyalty, and action-has become the central pivot for the debate on the place of Islam in the West, state polices on multiculturalism, and even foreign policy towards the Middle East. Young, western-born Muslim men are central figures in these questions, yet their lives and identities remain poorly understood. Political Islam and Masculinity: Muslim Men in Australia reveals important and timely insights into why young Muslim men, often from very similar social backgrounds, are pursuing such dramatically different political paths in the name of Islam. Based on an unprecedented depth of engagement and quality of sources, this book examines the key social influences behind exceptional examples of political action by young Australian Muslim men who have extended their reach into the international realm, from the streets of Jakarta to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq.

Joshua M. Roose is Research Fellow at the Institute for Religion, Politics, and Society at the Australian Catholic University and Visiting Scholar at the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard University Law School, USA. He is Secretary of the Australian Sociological Association and has written numerous articles on Muslims in the West, Islamic law, and society and multiculturalism.

The question of Muslim identityand, more specifically, Muslim masculinities, political loyalty, and actionhas become the central pivot for the debate on the place of Islam in the West, state polices on multiculturalism, and even foreign policy towards the Middle East. Young, western-born Muslim men are central figures in these questions, yet their lives and identities remain poorly understood. Political Islam and Masculinity: Muslim Men in Australia reveals important and timely insights into why young Muslim men, often from very similar social backgrounds, are pursuing such dramatically different political paths in the name of Islam. Based on an unprecedented depth of engagement and quality of sources, this book examines the key social influences behind exceptional examples of political action by young Australian Muslim men who have extended their reach into the international realm, from the streets of Jakarta to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq.

This book reveals important and timely insights into why young Australian Muslim men, often from very similar social backgrounds, pursue such dramatically different political paths in the name of Islam. This has important implications for promoting cohesion and challenging the increasing popularity of the Islamic State movement in the West.

Table of Contents
List of illustrations
Preface: Professor Bryan S. Turner
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Question of Muslim Masculinities
1. Political Islam and Masculinity: A New Approach
2. Muslims in Australia
3. The Brothahood: 'Australia's Mine Too'
4. Waleed Aly: 'To live in the Realm of Ideas'
5. The Benbrika Jama'ah: 'The Reward of the Mujahid'
6. 9/11's Children: 'Chasing Martyrdom'
7. The Centrality of Hope, Belief and Upward Social Trajectory
Bibliography
Index