Ethnic Relations and Religious Mobilisation of Muslims in Europe

Professor Karen Phalet, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Religion is a central aspect of ethno-cultural diversity in European societies. In this research project, we investigate three aspects of ethno-religious diversity: changes in religiosity of (self-identified) Muslims over time, cross-national variation in religiosity and different national discourses on Muslim identification. All three parts of the project share an inter-group approach that looks at Muslims as a religious, but also ethnic minority in increasingly diverse European societies. The emphasis is on the 2nd immigrant generation of Muslim heritage which is systematically compared to the 1st generation as well as the native reference population. Throughout, religion is conceptualised as multi-dimensional, that is to say comprising attitudes, behaviour and self-identification.

In the following, we shortly describe the three sub-projects.

Project 1: Muslims in the Netherlands – an analysis of religious change

Mieke Maliepaard, MSc (PhD Candidate), Utrecht University, The Netherlands (M.I.Maliepaard@uu.nl)

Dr. Marcel Lubbers, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Dr. Merove Gijsberts, Institute of Social Research, The Netherlands

Prof. Karen Phalet, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Prof. Louk Hagendoorn, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

The central objective of this project is to investigate the religiosity of Turkish and Moroccan Dutch migrants of the first and second generation in the Netherlands. The project aims to investigate whether there are processes of religious change, such as secularisation or religious revival, among the Turkish and Moroccan Dutch population. Change is understood in the broadest sense, meaning change over time, changes between cohorts and changes between migration generations. In addition, the project aims to investigate possible determinants of change: to what extent can the trend(s) be attributed to structural changes in the migrant population (increase in education and Dutch language abilities), the society (segregation, political unrest) and/or intergroup factors (discrimination and intergroup contact)? In order to answer these questions, data gathered by the Netherlands Institute for Social Research among Turkish and Moroccan Dutch in 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006 respectively, will be analysed using state of the art statistical analysis.

Project 2: Ethnic relations and religiosity of young Turks and Moroccans in Europe

Fenella Fleischmann, MSc (PhD Candidate), Utrecht University, The Netherlands and Leuven University, Belgium (F.Fleischmann@uu.nl)

Prof. Karen Phalet, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

Prof. Norbert Vanbeselaere, Leuven University, Belgium

Dr. Maurice Crul, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

In this project, the cross-country comparison stands central. The TIES project (The Integration of the European Second generation) provides recent comparative data on young Muslims of Turkish and Moroccan descent in Belgium (Antwerp and Brussels), Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt), the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Rotterdam) and Sweden (Stockholm). Differential levels of socio-economic integration, different national approaches towards the institutionalisation of Islam and variations in inter-group relations with the native reference population will be taken into account in the analysis of religiosity of these young Muslims. Religiosity is decomposed into an affective component of identification with the religious in-group and a behavioural component of religious practice. These components of religiosity are then related to the socio-economic position of the Turkish and Moroccan second generation and their willingness to mobilise politically around issues concerning their religion. Differences in these relationships between ethnic groups, countries and cities will be explained by different inter-group relations and the position of Islam in the four societies under study.

Project 3: Discourses on Muslim identities: Qualitative case studies in Germany, The Netherlands and the UK

Project 3a: Germany and The Netherlands

Ali Aslan Yildiz, MSc (PhD Candidate), Utrecht University, The Netherlands (A.A.Yildiz@uu.nl)

Prof. Maykel Verkuyten, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

This project analyses the question of what it means to be a Muslim in Western Europe by focusing on the ways religion is discursively mobilised in constructions of Muslim identity, how this identity promotes different forms of social and political action, and how it is related to experiences of discrimination or exclusion in ethnic relations between Muslims and the majority groups. These issues will be investigated using qualitative methods to assess in-depth the meanings that Turkish Muslims give to their religious identity. Discourse analysis and focus groups will be applied in cities in The Netherlands, Germany and England. These different contexts provide a tool to analyse the role of Muslim printed media, Muslim organisations, and opinion leaders in relation to how the members of the second generation draw on their religious identity to position themselves within these societies.

Summarising, these three parts of the project move beyond existing theories on religiosity from different disciplinary backgrounds in the social sciences – including sociology, anthropology, religious studies and social psychology. Throughout, the emphasis is placed on non-Christian minority groups which are systematically analysed them on the basis of empirical data. Based on these empirical analyses and key theoretical notions guiding the analysis, a more thorough understanding of how young Muslims in Europe position themselves in our diverse contemporary societies.

Project 3b: The United Kingdom

Dr. Miri Song, University of Kent (A.M.Song@kent.ac.uk)

An examination of the experiences of British Muslims provides an important counterpoint to the focus on Turkish and Morrocan Muslims on the continent. Given the distinctive colonial history in the Indian sub-continent from where the vast majority of British Muslims have emigrated, the dominant image of Muslims in Britain are ‘brown’ people who are racialized as South Asian (though there are also smaller numbers of Arabs, Turks, Malaysians, Somalis, Afghanis, and Kosovars). This project will examine whether there is evidence of a broad, inclusive second generation Muslim identification which transcends specific ethnic groups, such as Turkish and South Asian groups in Britain. First, is there an inclusive understanding of being Muslim among second generation Britons, and if so, how may this be manifest in social networking and mobilizations? A recent study of Turkish Muslims in London (by Enneli, Modood, and Bradley) found that they did not feel part of a wider Muslim community. Second, to what extent is religious practice central to understandings of Muslim identification, or is Muslim identity more about a symbolic, politicized assertion of ‘public ethnicity’? These questions will be explored by examining the workings of ‘Islamic’ or ‘Muslim’ student societies at various universities in the London area. In addition to attending and observing student meetings and events, I will interview a small number of student leaders and members, and organize some focus groups among student members. Furthermore, I will examine the websites and written mission statements of these various student organizations.