Abstract

This chapter examines the discursive construction of Muslim women and their perceived language proficiency in English in relation to Countering Violent Extremism (CVE). By analysing discourse from British politicians, this chapter will demonstrate how a lack of English, specifically among South Asian Muslim women has been weaponised by politicians to portray these women as ‘unintegrated’. This perceived lack of integration is seen as a possible gateway to potential radicalisation. Given that migrant women, as mothers, are often positioned as crucial to ‘reproducing the nation’, Muslim women are positioned as imperative to providing a defence against their children being radicalised. This was demonstrated in 2016 when Prime Minister Cameron promised funding for English classes for Muslim women. This appears all the more insidious given that the British government had previously cut the very same funding and metaphorically brought the field of adult language education for migrants to its knees only to then promise funding under the guise of CVE. In other words, funding was cut, yet offered under the guise of CVE. This chapter contributes to the Handbook of Gendered Islamophobia by shedding light on the role of language in ‘othering’ Muslim women and its role in perpetuating tropes that contribute to CVE. These tropes often draw on historical discursive constructions of Muslim women as lacking in agency and this is implicitly determined by ‘oppressive’ Muslim men requiring state intervention, which in this case is played out through the prism of security and English language learning.