The idea of a new generation of Muslims, leading from the front and changing the world, may feel surprising in the midst of current negative representations of the Global Muslim experience. Generation M, however, the moniker given to this vanguard, is very much a thing. It is also the title of the new book by Shelina Janmohammed, author of Love in a Headscarf. But is it any good?
With over five per cent of the population and numbering nearly three million as a whole, British Muslims have become a category worthy of interest among all sorts of groups – from social science thinkers, policymakers agitating over questions of identity and radicalisation, to concerns over the opportunity frames regarding a mobile, or not, body of people. This focus shifts the attention away from the negative aspects of the British Muslim experience, issues that are greatly in need of resolving. While over half of Britain’s Muslims live in ten per cent of the poorest parts of the country, there is a growing body of British Muslims who are highly educated, aspirational, capable, and more importantly, engaging in halal economic activity. They are seen as the new frontline of participation and engagement, as well as a new market.
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