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While increasing attention from academics and the media focuses on the lives of Muslim communities in the west, little attention has so far been given to insiders' own perceptions of their social lives. This paper, borne out of broader research on their perceptions of crime, aims to analyse some internal discourses on moral education. The ethnographic data, collected between October 2004 and July 2005, is used to try to show the potentials and the pitfalls of formal (in mosques, "madrasahs" and schools) and informal (in family and community) means of provision of moral education. The paper argues that prevention of deviance through moral education seems to be neglected in favour of punishment, retrieval or rehabilitation. Female deviance, however, seems to be addressed by prevention strategies that are based on protection and the limitation of certain interactions, rather than on moral education. (Contains 6 notes.)

The significance of homeland attachment among the second-and -third generation British Pakistanis is analyzed by comparing with the myth of return that characterized the early pioneer phase of Pakistani migration to Britain. It is suggested that, for pioneer generation, the myth of return justified a socio-economically motivated migration, however, for second and third generations this represents a response to contemporary political tensions and Islamophobia.

The widespread practice of transnational marriage among British Pakistanis has often been understood through an ethnic lens, as emphasising the boundaries of ethnicity and reaffirming bonds of kinship to Pakistan. Within British Pakistani families, however, a diversity of marriages may exist, with some siblings married transnationally, whilst others have partners from within the UK. Marriage between cousins or more distant relatives is common, but unions between British Pakistanis are less often consanguineous than those involving a spouse from Pakistan. This paper draws on sibling pair case studies to explore the logics and consequences of contrasting marriage choices: those between kin but crossing international borders, and those within the nation-state but crossing the boundaries of the kin-group. In doing so, we suggest that both 'types' of marriage should be understood as part of wider dynamics of creative contextual brightening and dimming of a variety of boundaries of similarity and difference. Negotiations of marriageability may include ethnic, kin and national boundaries, but very often go beyond them. Destabilising these dominant discourses, moreover, also brings into question assumed correlations between cross-border marriage and broader transnational orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intra-ethnic discrimination, in the form of stereotyping of recent migrants by settled ethnic minorities, has been interpreted as internalized racism, displacing stigma and negotiation of local hierarchies of belonging. Stereotypes of ‘Fresh off the Boat’ migrants construct cultural boundaries and assertions of belonging, offering clues to processes of identity-making where ethnicity is complicated by ongoing migration. In British Pakistani portrayals of ‘freshies’, this assertion of difference coexists with familial ties and a high incidence of transnational marriage. Analysis of the figure of the ‘freshie’ in internet comedy videos, combined with qualitative research material, provides insight into dynamics of cultural and social capital, immigration and sexuality through manifestations of difference, similarity and disgust. Together these not only reveal the weakness of recent migrants’ positions in structures of socio-economic and symbolic power, but the blurring of social categories, and the continuing importance of transnational kinship in negotiations of identity amongst British Pakistanis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

By referring to the myth of return, migration literature has focused mainly on sociopolitical explanations, neglecting intersubjective dynamics. This paper operates a switch from myth of return to fantasy. This allows the analysis to be detached from the return speculation’s outcome. It also recognises the cross-generational endurance of return-thinking as functional to the process of identity-building as part of a migrant’s search for well-being. Three British Pakistani migration stories will illustrate how return fantasies are not necessarily a symptom of disengagement with the host society, but are part of a common way human beings have to imagine possible futures for themselves and make sense of their present. Fantasies have the potential to create a virtual transitional space where the individual can re-elaborate experiences in a mode that is safer than the one of reality and may have a positive effect on normalising one’s migration experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this article, I identify the need for more nuanced approaches to transnational emotional attachment, especially with regard to the second generation. Interviewing second-generation British Pakistanis while on their holidays in Pakistan and comparing the findings with data collected in the UK provides a more realistic exploration of the phenomenon than would have been possible with only narratives collected before and after the trips. In contrast to current utopian views of egalitarian transnationalism negotiated at a personal level, known in the literature as transnationalism from below, I argue that the visits of second-generation British Pakistanis perpetuate global power asymmetries. Furthermore, such visits may help British Pakistanis redefine their identity in relation to Pakistan, the UK and Islam, thus contributing to the formation of a new transnational identity. In the conclusion, I suggest that leisure visits can still carry the potential for important political and economic relations for Pakistan in times of need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]