The centrality of women in “pre-political contexts
of everyday life” is one stressed by Ålund in her
study of Yugoslav women in Stockholm. She argues
that “rather than being passive victims, women
who have migrated actively employ the complex
cultural symbolism of their histories to challenge
contemporary forms of subordination and, in the
process, they create new solidarities” (1999,
150–1). As in Bosnia, so too in Sweden women sus-
tain informal networks and foster cross-ethnic
local solidarities. Palestinian women asylum seek-
ers in Berlin from Lebanon use streets as intense
spaces of sociability and intimacy (Abdulrahim
1996, 62–3). Their networks incorporate Lebanese,
Palestinian, Kurdish, and other Arabic speaking
women and are instrumental for keeping tabs on
husbands and maximizing access to services. Court-
yards, parks corners, and squares are used for daily
afternoon meetings, although women still suffer
isolation, especially during the winter months.
The elaborate preparation of food, a major
aspect of all interdomestic relations, is highlighted
in a study of middle-class Iranian women migrants
in Britain, who lay enormous stress on capturing
the flavors and taste of Iranian food (Harbottle
2000). Food is also central to Algerians in South
East France, whose rituals follow a set pattern:
opening rite, prayers, meal, songs and dances, clos-
ing rite (Andezian 1990, 201). The food in such
gatherings is blessed, containing baraka, and dhikr
is performed, inducing ecstatic trance (ibid., 202).
The female leader, the muqadma, presides over the
rituals, conducts the supplicatory prayer (du≠à±),
mediates requests to saints, finds solutions to per-
sonal afflictions, and accompanies women on Sufi
pilgrimage to Algeria. Such invisible neighborhood
events, convened in the privacy of homes, link
immigrant women of all ages in family, neighbor-
hood, and friendship networks. Like Algerians in
France, Pakistani women migrants in the United
Kingdom convene domestic communal Qur±àn
readings in which food is blessed, to mark death,
personal crises, and moments of transition (Werb-
ner 2002a).
Young girls and women figure prominently in
Pakistani mehndicelebrations. They are the ones
who dance, sing, and clown, supporting the bride.
Hence networks of second-generation girls and
younger women are formed around such inter-
domestic rituals and celebrations. As they mature,
issues of female seclusion and arranged marriage
have gained prominence. Quite often, pubescent
girls’ movements are restricted and they are chap-
eroned, with family honor or the Islamic edicts
regarding modesty repeatedly invoked. Fear of gos-536 networks
sip is highly potent in close-knit Pakistani commu-
nities in Oxford, England, although illicit love
affairs do occur (Shaw 2000, 172–3). Arranged
marriages are a source of intergenerational conflict.
The rate of Pakistani intercontinental marriages,
often with close kin, continues to be high, with ris-
ing numbers of divorces and “forced” marriages, in
which youngsters are coerced into marriage, some-
times abducted while on overseas visits.Islamization, home study, and
associational networks
Whether because of global trends toward
Islamicization, or the maturation of second-genera-
tion migrant women, the spread of the ™ijàb (veil)
has been marked in Muslim migrant communities
across Western Europe, from Norway, Denmark,
and Sweden to France, Belgium, the Netherlands,
Germany, and the United Kingdom, along with the
proliferation of Islamic study groups (dars), as
noted by Afshar (1998) and Schmidt (2004). These
rotate between women’s homes or meet in mosques
to interpret Qur±ànic verses or learn classical
Arabic, often guided by a woman expert in Islamic
studies. Some “born again” women belong to
national and international networks, such as Al-
Huda women’s network, which has its headquar-
ters in Pakistan. These networks use electronic mail
and the Internet. An increased knowledge of Islam
allows young women to resist traditional customs
as un-Islamic, and to demand the right to make
their own marriage choices (Dwyer 1999, Schmidt
2004).
Countering these conservative trends are more
radical networks, such as that of lesbian Muslim
and South Asian women in Britain (Kawale 2003).
Hence, along with the visible Islamicization there
has also been a growth in women’s associational
networks, whether philanthropic, Islamist, or radi-
cally critical of Muslim law and custom.
Turkish and Maghribi women’s associations
in France differ (Yalçin-Heckman 1997), with
Moroccans having stronger and wider contacts
with French authorities. Second and third genera-
tion Maghribi women are better integrated into the
social services and speak good French. Lloyd
reports that since 1981, Algerian women in France
have founded a vast number of “caring” and cul-
tural associations, some oriented to the homeland
(Lloyd 1999).
In the United Kingdom, Werbner (2002b) reports
the emergence of a Pakistani women’s association
that used satirical popular culture and spectacular
philanthropic transnational activism to gain recog-
nition. Many federated Muslim associations such