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The University of Southern Mississippi
 Who I am/am Not
Identity and Practice AmongMuslim Women in Louisiana
by Angela Kristin VandenBroek
A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate School of The University of Southern Mississippiin Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Art
December 2010
 
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ased on ethnographic field work with a groupof Muslim American women from Louisianain 2008, I investigate how identity construc-tion can be the location of agency and resis-tance and how this agency is related to local,national and transnational power struggles. Iargue that identity, when viewed as a practice of knowledge-able actors rather than a list of categories, can be a usefulanalytical tool and that this viewpoint can be beneficial to ourunderstanding of identity as a concept as we explore iden-tity’s roles in power relationships and inequality.I choose Muslim American women as their identity has beenfrequently contested by academia, popular media, govern-ments, and special interest groups, causing their reactionsto be more aggressive and making their agency more promi-nent to the observer. With problems such as essentialismand the confounding factors of globalization and permeableboundaries, how can we use identity as an analytical tool?My experience has led me to reimagine identity in a waythat sidesteps some of these issues and presents a thickerdescription of identity construction.
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 would like to thank my advisor and thesis director, Dr.Jeffrey Kaufmann, as well as my other committee mem-bers, Dr. Bridget Hayden and Dr. James Flanagan, fortheir enduring patience, immense support and crucialadvice. I also owe thanks to Dr. Marie Danforth, myfirst graduate advisor, who encouraged me to follow myheart and pursue ethnography and whose enthusiasm wasthe initial reason I choose to attend The University of South-ern Mississippi, and Dr. Ed Jackson, who always provideduseful advice and allowed me to indulge my archaeologicalinterests. To my informants and their friends and family, whospent many hours talking with me and allowing me into theirlives, I owe much gratitude. It was only through their pa-tience and openness that I have been able to complete thisproject.
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icholas VandenBroek, my husband, thankyou for making sure that I was alwaystaken care of and being attentive even when you would have rather talked aboutinsects and reptiles. To my parents, Johnand Annette Reikow, without your supportand encouragement, I would not have been able to succeed.Mom, your love, patience, work, and struggle have beenthe most powerful driving force in my life, thank you. I wouldlike to especially thank two teachers, Dr. Jan Brashler andMr. Dennis Ferry, who molded me as a student, anthropolo-gist, and individual in the classroom and beyond. Finally, tothe following people, Gregory Wood, Katherine Budzynski,and my sisters Mari Lynn, Kimberly and Elizabeth Reikow,I apologize for making you listen to me talk about Muslim women, identity, and practice endlessly over the last coupleof years, thank you for putting up with me.
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