(Mis)Understanding Muslim Converts in

CanadaA Critical Discussion of Muslim

Converts in the Contexts of Security and Society

Presentation of Preliminary FindingsMay 30, 2014

Researchers:PI: Scott Flower, PhD, University of MelbourneRA: Deborah Birkett, MA, University of Waterloo

Conversion to Islam

“There is no God but God; and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”

The shahadah (testimony), in Arabic:

Context: why this research is important

Apparent increase in conversion post-September 11 in the West? No peer-reviewed empirical research on Muslim converts in

Canada Upsurge in media coverage of Muslims and Islam

Apparent statistical overrepresentation of converts in terrorism UK, USA, Australia, Canada

How Western security agencies are framing their concern Categories of potential threat: domestic terrorist activity, foreign

fighters, facilitating/influencing others

Steven Vikash Chand

John Nuttall Amanda Korody

William Plotnikov

Xristos Katsirouba

s

Aaron Yoon

Image credits on last slide

Converts as “securitized” subjects

Securitized without evidence No dedicated peer-reviewed journal articles or books

Conflation of conversion and radicalization themes (disaffection, Islam as social protest, act of rebellion)

“Conversion and radicalization” fallacies “Converts to terrorism” notion (Uhlmann 2008, et al.)–

unsupported by the data For radicalized converts, there are usually long time frames Kleinmann (2012): while individual processes (for example,

cognitive function or identity issues) “play a much greater role in radicalizing converts” than born Muslims, “radicalization is largely the result of recruitment by militant movements or radical friends and family. Internal mechanisms alone are not sufficient for radicalization.”

The vast majority of Muslim converts DO NOT violently radicalize

Muslim converts in Ontario

Methodology of pilot study 25 Ontario Muslim converts interviewed

Methods Surveys sent to 124 mosques and Islamic centres

throughout Ontario Snowballing method of participant recruitment In-depth, in-person ethnographic interviews Basic descriptive statistics

Some key findings

Study period February-March 2014

Geographic distribution Central and southwestern Ontario

Educational levels Well educated – 84% had post-secondary education

Religious backgrounds Roman Catholic, various Protestant denominations,

Hindu, Baha’i, and atheist

Some key findings (cont’d)

Gender breakdown 14 women, 11 men

Age statistics Average current age at time of study: 35 Average age at conversion: 26-27 Youngest convert was 12, oldest 69, modal 19 Average years as Muslim: 8 nearly a third had been Muslim between 14-21 years; newest Muslim had converted 10 weeks prior

Theoretical framework and our data

7-stage non-linear process model of religious conversion (Rambo, Understanding Religious Conversion, 1993)

Concluding remarks

Security in the context of society: Conversion not a predictive indicator

Implications for policy Further detailed empirical research

required

Questions?

Scott Flower, PhDMcKenzie FellowSchool of Social and Political SciencesUniversity of MelbourneE: scott.flower@unimelb.edu.au   

Deborah Birkett, MA Department of Sociology and Legal StudiesUniversity of WaterlooE: dlbirket@uwaterloo.ca  

Image sources

• John Nuttall: http://globalnews.ca/news/748592/alleged-canada-day-bomb-suspect-moved-to-a-psychiatric-hospital/ (cropped)

• Amanda Korody: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/b-c/accused-terror-suspect-amanda-korody-struggled-with-mental-health-former-friends-say-1.343503 (cropped)

• Steven Vikash Chand: http://www.nypdshield.org/public/SiteFiles/documents/NYPD_Report-Radicalization_in_the_West.pdf (cropped)

• William Plotnikov: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/20/dagestan/ (cropped)

• Aaron Yoon & Xristos Katsiroubas: http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/16/canadian-was-a-clear-leader-among-islamist-terrorists-who-killed-11-workers-in-algeria-gas-plant-attack-report/