LAUSR

This contribution describes the origin and activities of three organizations in the United Kingdom: the British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS), the Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN) and Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND), discussing them against the backdrop of a dominant government-led securitization agenda. Having each held leading positions in one of these initiatives, the authors analyze the attempts of these organizations to endorse bonds and bridges between stakeholders at universities, community-based organizations and media, in order to combat distorted views on Islam and Muslims in current British society. Constructive work has taken place as they created new interstitial spaces in which stakeholders have conversed and benefitted from each other’s insights. At the same time, these interstices are being constricted in such a way that the new spaces risk being squeezed by the ‘agenda of misrecognition’, a defensive closed fist. Based on their experiences, the authors define a possible agenda to consolidate the interstitial spaces that these organizations have managed to occupy.