Emergent Pluralism in a Fragmented and Polarized Diaspora: Politics of Iranian Diasporic Identity Formation in Malaysia

This paper explores the conditioning of Iranian diasporic experience in Malaysia, the ways domestic policies, state relations, and international politics mold diasporic discourses, organizations, and economics. My fieldwork in Kuala Lumpur shows that three accompanying processes embed this formation: fragmentation that takes place along the overlapping socioeconomic, political, and gender categories; polarization that refers to clashes between political ideologies/allegiances, religious interpretations, and ethnic groups; pluralization that denotes emergent socio-discursive capacities accommodating interaction and communication among diverse groups. Exploring linkages between these processes, I argue those who observe, discuss, and imagine the diversities of Iranians against the plural backdrop of the host country develop a plural discursive capacity and tolerance in associational life.