Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CICMSC (Choosing Islamic Conservatism: Muslim Youth in Europe and the UK and the Question of Social Cohesion)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-04-01 bis 2024-09-30
The project has an ambitious agenda to explore the factors shaping the religiosity of second and third-generation Muslims and their desire to integrate into host societies across five European countries: Austria, Bosnia, France, Germany, and the UK. It has three major contributions, each critical in its own right, but together they provide a particularly powerful analytical lens.
First, the project examines the strategies and teachings of major Islamic movements in these countries to determine how they adapt their teachings to the local context. A detailed study of the primary and secondary level Islamic curricula taught by these movements, and their methods of teaching, has never been carried out before. Previous studies have focused on their demographics or organization but rarely on their content.
Second, the project maps Muslim populations and Islamic networks across the five countries, profiling the main institutions and actors within each network. Drawing on census and other sources of data, it also provides a rich understanding of any striking characteristics of Muslim populations compared to the average population.
Finally, the core of the project investigates whether mosque-dense, Muslim-dense communities play an important role in transmitting religiosity to the next generation of Muslims, and if so, how. No other project has compared these dimensions individually or collectively, which makes this project uniquely powerful. The five conuntry comparative lens is also unique.
The findings will enrich theoretical debates in many fields, including theories of multiculturalism, and will have significant policy relevance. The integration of Muslims into mainstream society remains a key concern for European politics and social cohesion, making this project's insights highly valuable.
First, the project examines the strategies and teachings of major Islamic movements in these countries to determine how they adapt their teachings to the local context. A detailed study of the primary and secondary level Islamic curricula taught by these movements, and their methods of teaching, has never been carried out before. Previous studies have focused on their demographics or organization but rarely on their content.
Second, the project maps Muslim populations and Islamic networks across the five countries, profiling the main institutions and actors within each network. Drawing on census and other sources of data, it also provides a rich understanding of any striking characteristics of Muslim populations compared to the average population.
Finally, the core of the project investigates whether mosque-dense, Muslim-dense communities play an important role in transmitting religiosity to the next generation of Muslims, and if so, how. No other project has compared these dimensions individually or collectively, which makes this project uniquely powerful. The five conuntry comparative lens is also unique.
The findings will enrich theoretical debates in many fields, including theories of multiculturalism, and will have significant policy relevance. The integration of Muslims into mainstream society remains a key concern for European politics and social cohesion, making this project's insights highly valuable.
During the first half of the project, the focus has been on mapping Islamic religious
movements across the five focus countries in detail. This involved using existing data sources and mosque directories, refined with geo-mapping techniques. Concurrently, interviews have been conducted with prominent individuals within the Islamic networks in each country to develop detailed profiles of the movements, influential mosques, madrasas (Islamic schools), and scholars. Due to delays in initiating fieldwork in European countries caused by COVID restrictions during the project's first year, there has been a slight head start on fieldwork in the UK. As a result, the PI has completed a monograph on British Islam, documenting the adaptability of British Islamic networks.
Additionally, over twenty papers are currently being developed by project team members, exploring various dimensions of Muslim communities and the organization of Islamic networks in Europe. These papers cover themes such as:
Methodological questions on identifying Muslim-dense neighbourhoods in Europe when census data does not include religious affiliation.
Measuring the relationship between mosque density and Muslim population density in European cities.
Detailed analysis of Islamic studies curricula used by each Islamic movement for primary and secondary level children.
Initial profiling of mosque-dense, Muslim-dense neighbourhoods across the five countries.
Three such neighbourhoods in each country, totalling up to 15 neighbourhoods, will be the focus of detailed ethnographic fieldwork by the project team in the second half of the project.
movements across the five focus countries in detail. This involved using existing data sources and mosque directories, refined with geo-mapping techniques. Concurrently, interviews have been conducted with prominent individuals within the Islamic networks in each country to develop detailed profiles of the movements, influential mosques, madrasas (Islamic schools), and scholars. Due to delays in initiating fieldwork in European countries caused by COVID restrictions during the project's first year, there has been a slight head start on fieldwork in the UK. As a result, the PI has completed a monograph on British Islam, documenting the adaptability of British Islamic networks.
Additionally, over twenty papers are currently being developed by project team members, exploring various dimensions of Muslim communities and the organization of Islamic networks in Europe. These papers cover themes such as:
Methodological questions on identifying Muslim-dense neighbourhoods in Europe when census data does not include religious affiliation.
Measuring the relationship between mosque density and Muslim population density in European cities.
Detailed analysis of Islamic studies curricula used by each Islamic movement for primary and secondary level children.
Initial profiling of mosque-dense, Muslim-dense neighbourhoods across the five countries.
Three such neighbourhoods in each country, totalling up to 15 neighbourhoods, will be the focus of detailed ethnographic fieldwork by the project team in the second half of the project.
The project's final contributions will be significant. By the end of the project, the PI will have completed a major comparative monograph examining how mosque-dense, Muslim-dense neighbourhoods across the five project countries operate, how they have been shaped by state regulation, and how living in such contexts versus more mixed neighbourhoods impacts the intergenerational transmission of Muslim religiosity and the integration of successive generations of Muslims in host societies. This volume will also make a major contribution to theories of multiculturalism.
Additionally, a three-volume edited series will compile the work of textual scholars employed on the project, presenting the most comprehensive and detailed accounts of how all the major Islamic movements across Europe (South Asian, Turkish, North African, and Salafi networks) are adapting Islamic teachings to local contexts in the basic Islamic studies curricula used to teach British and European Muslim children. No such detailed comparative study exists to date.
Furthermore, an estimated 30 journal articles will be published by project team members, covering specific aspects of Muslim communities, Islamic movements, and state regulations at the individual country level. In the last two years of the project, research findings will also be shared through popular media, with articles published in newspapers, magazines, and influential online websites. Policy briefs will also be produced.
Additionally, a three-volume edited series will compile the work of textual scholars employed on the project, presenting the most comprehensive and detailed accounts of how all the major Islamic movements across Europe (South Asian, Turkish, North African, and Salafi networks) are adapting Islamic teachings to local contexts in the basic Islamic studies curricula used to teach British and European Muslim children. No such detailed comparative study exists to date.
Furthermore, an estimated 30 journal articles will be published by project team members, covering specific aspects of Muslim communities, Islamic movements, and state regulations at the individual country level. In the last two years of the project, research findings will also be shared through popular media, with articles published in newspapers, magazines, and influential online websites. Policy briefs will also be produced.