Sajida Tursun on Media, Networking, and Globalization: Constructing a Muslim Community in Shanghai

Sajida Tursun, Max Planck Institute, Germany

Chinese Muslims living in contemporary Shanghai have diverse regional, cultural, and political backgrounds. They perceive “being Muslim” both at an individual level and as part of a shared identity which is constantly emphasized in their everyday lives. This shared identity is often expressed through the concept of qerindash(brothers and sisters) as well as in their efforts to build up a “healthy” Muslim community in the context of state-sponsored secularist policies. Through the social use of media in religious life, these self-defined Muslims develop their understandings of community within a context of globalization in Shanghai’s urban environment. For them, Islam is conceptualized not only as shared belief and practice, but also as a medium for networking both online and offline.

Sajida Tursunis a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity in Göttingen, Germany.

Sponsored by the East Asia Program at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Program in Chinese Studies, Department of Religion, and Department of Anthropology.