Includes bibliographical references and index.

pt. 1. Diaspora, identity, representation and violence. Diaspora : history of an idea / Denise Helly -- Islam in diaspora and challenges to multiculturalism / Saeed Rahnema -- Exilic readings of the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Koran / Reza Baraheni -- Diaspora, ethnicity and problems of identity / Mark J. Goodman -- Islam and consecrated tortures / Ezat Mossallanejad -- pt. 2. Home and exile : gender and politics of memory. Divided communities of memory : diasporas come home / Mary Ann Tétreault -- 'Our' reflections in 'their' mirror : cultural politics and the representation of the Iranian diaspora in the Islamic Republic / Hammed Shahidian -- Gender, nation and diaspora : Kurdish women in feminist transnational struggles / Shahrzad Mojab -- Discourses of Islam/secularism and identity-building processes among Turkish University youth / Aylin Akpinar -- pt. 3. Contested Terrains : Islam, gender and struggles for continuity and change. The hijab controversies in Western public schools : contrasting conceptions of ethnicity and of ethnic relations / Marie McAndrew -- Islamophobia and women of Pakistani descent in Bradford : the crisis of ascribed and adopted identities / Haleh Afshar, Robert Aitken and Myfanwy Franks -- Diasporic narratives on virginity / Fataneh Farahani -- Iranian-American elderly in California's Santa Clara valley : crafting, selves and composing lives / Mary Elaine Hegland -- Like Parvin, like Najiba, like Heba, we are all different : reflections on voices of women in diaspora / Afsaneh Hojabri.