One Tower Hamlets for All

Fundamentalism and the ‘faith industry’ in Tower Hamlets

Minority communities residing in the UK have had many labels imposed on them since their arrival in large numbers in the 1960s and ’70s. In recent years there has been a focus on faith, so those once identified as ‘Asians’ are now described in religious terms. This shift has led to the emergence of a ‘faith industry’ comparable to the ‘race industry’ of the 1970s and 1980s. Yet in Tower Hamlets the multiple policies and groups associated with this have done little to challenge fundamentalism. Read the article

The project plan is to increase engagement with faith institutions via a number of events held across six months from Oct 2010 – Feb 2011 with the objective of:

• Enhanced working relationship with Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish and secular organisations
• Increased engagement of young people and members of other faith communities with the Muslim community and to build links with Brick Lane Mosque and other faith institutions
• Positive engagement between faith communities and Brick Lane Mosque
• Increased outward facing role for Brick Lane Mosque and wider promotion within the community
• Increased engagement of young people and members of all faith communities working together to challenge extremism
• To provide an alternative to young people drawn by extremist groups and to inform young people of similarities and universal message of all religions of serving humanity