Periodic Reporting for period 1 - HoLi ('House of Light': home and piety in the Gülen Movement)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-12-31
In the Social Sciences, the concept of “home” has been considered a tool to explore the different ways in which people “make home” and feel “at home in the world”. Home is a multidimensional idea that can evoke a wide range of meanings and provide various senses that are particularly critical to the experience of feeling at ease in an unpredictable and often complicated world, particularly in situations of forced migration. Research on Muslim diasporic communities has shown that the Islamic concept of “hicret” (migration in Turkish) is a useful framework for understanding how practicing Muslims experience migration and create a Muslim space of their own wherever they settle. Although important works have discussed how committed Muslim migrants envision and experience hicret, less attention has been given to the roles of women in religious migration and homemaking in exile, as well as the effects of exile on their subjectivity and social trajectories.
In the last thirty years, there has been an increasing interest in female migration; however, ethnographies that focus on pious Muslim women remain scarce in academic literature. This lack may be attributed to the limited access researchers have to the private lives of pious Muslim women. This research project aims to fill this gap and contribute to the anthropological understanding of the ways in which pious Muslim women experience exile and the resulting effects on their individual trajectories and social practices.
The overall scientific objective of this research project is to understand how certain forms of interpreting and practicing Islam influence the experiences of exile and homemaking among committed Muslim women in Europe. This has been achieved through the following sub-objectives: 1) to explore how committed Turkish Muslim women migrants experience Islam in the secular contexts of Belgium and the Netherlands; 2) to investigate the role of religious significations of hicret (migration) in these women’s experiences of exile; 3) to conduct a comparative analysis of committed Turkish Muslim women migrants in Europe and those in South America; 4) to challenge and deconstruct misleading perceptions of Islam and Muslims, particularly concerning Muslim women, that exist within European society.
This project will contribute to ongoing debates on the relationship between forced migration and homemaking, with a specific focus on how Islamic beliefs and practices shape individuals’ sense of home, viewed from a gendered perspective. Additionally, by engaging with the concept of hicret, this work will deepen scholarly understanding of how forced migrants make sense of exile and build a home where they can develop daily routines that reflect their ethics and worldview.
HoLi will provide a theoretically informed, in-depth ethnographic account of the processual and performative dimensions of homemaking among Turkish Muslim forced migrants in the European context, focusing on the role that Islam plays in shaping their sense of exile, as well as of home in a situation of forced migration. It will consider intersectional aspects of experiences of exile, that is, how migration and homemaking intertwine with religion, gender, class, education, and ethnicity.
To this end, I will conduct fieldwork through participant observation and semi-structured interviews on experiences of exile and homemaking among Turkish Muslim women forced migrants in Belgium (in the Flemish area) and the Netherlands (The Hague and Amsterdam and its surroundings).
In the last thirty years, there has been an increasing interest in female migration; however, ethnographies that focus on pious Muslim women remain scarce in academic literature. This lack may be attributed to the limited access researchers have to the private lives of pious Muslim women. This research project aims to fill this gap and contribute to the anthropological understanding of the ways in which pious Muslim women experience exile and the resulting effects on their individual trajectories and social practices.
The overall scientific objective of this research project is to understand how certain forms of interpreting and practicing Islam influence the experiences of exile and homemaking among committed Muslim women in Europe. This has been achieved through the following sub-objectives: 1) to explore how committed Turkish Muslim women migrants experience Islam in the secular contexts of Belgium and the Netherlands; 2) to investigate the role of religious significations of hicret (migration) in these women’s experiences of exile; 3) to conduct a comparative analysis of committed Turkish Muslim women migrants in Europe and those in South America; 4) to challenge and deconstruct misleading perceptions of Islam and Muslims, particularly concerning Muslim women, that exist within European society.
This project will contribute to ongoing debates on the relationship between forced migration and homemaking, with a specific focus on how Islamic beliefs and practices shape individuals’ sense of home, viewed from a gendered perspective. Additionally, by engaging with the concept of hicret, this work will deepen scholarly understanding of how forced migrants make sense of exile and build a home where they can develop daily routines that reflect their ethics and worldview.
HoLi will provide a theoretically informed, in-depth ethnographic account of the processual and performative dimensions of homemaking among Turkish Muslim forced migrants in the European context, focusing on the role that Islam plays in shaping their sense of exile, as well as of home in a situation of forced migration. It will consider intersectional aspects of experiences of exile, that is, how migration and homemaking intertwine with religion, gender, class, education, and ethnicity.
To this end, I will conduct fieldwork through participant observation and semi-structured interviews on experiences of exile and homemaking among Turkish Muslim women forced migrants in Belgium (in the Flemish area) and the Netherlands (The Hague and Amsterdam and its surroundings).
During the two-year fellowship, all five Work Packages (WPs) outlined in Annex 1 of the Grant Agreement were completed, successfully achieving four research objectives and the additional training goal of enhancing the researcher’s skills and competencies. A key development was the shift towards career-building beyond academia through targeted training and networking activities.
WP1 (Management) involved preparing and submitting deliverables, including the Data Management Plan, Career Development Plan, and Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation Plan, along with revising the Career Development Plan and holding supervision meetings. WP2 (Knowledge Transfer/Training and Networking) encompassed various training courses—ranging from career development, interpersonal skills, and academic writing to project management and language training (Français Professionnel)—alongside co-teaching at KU Leuven and informal mentoring of an MA student pursuing a PhD. Participation in seminars and international conferences has proved vital for data analyses and interpretation.
WP3 (Research: Ethnographic Fieldwork) included participant observation among Turkish Muslim forced migrant women in Belgium (Months 1–20), with extended fieldwork due to new data opportunities, and in-depth interviews in The Hague and Amsterdam (Months 3–5). WP4 (Research: Ethnographic Analysis) focused on literature reviews (covering migration, Islamic movements, anthropology of art, and emotions) and ethnographic analysis of field notes, interviews, and testimonies.
WP5 (Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation) involved continuous dissemination through articles, book chapters, special issues, edited volumes, and oral presentations in international conferences, alongside communication efforts via project-related textual and audiovisual materials (for the upcoming “Light Upon Darkness” website) and public talks. Further details on these activities are provided in a separate section.
WP1 (Management) involved preparing and submitting deliverables, including the Data Management Plan, Career Development Plan, and Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation Plan, along with revising the Career Development Plan and holding supervision meetings. WP2 (Knowledge Transfer/Training and Networking) encompassed various training courses—ranging from career development, interpersonal skills, and academic writing to project management and language training (Français Professionnel)—alongside co-teaching at KU Leuven and informal mentoring of an MA student pursuing a PhD. Participation in seminars and international conferences has proved vital for data analyses and interpretation.
WP3 (Research: Ethnographic Fieldwork) included participant observation among Turkish Muslim forced migrant women in Belgium (Months 1–20), with extended fieldwork due to new data opportunities, and in-depth interviews in The Hague and Amsterdam (Months 3–5). WP4 (Research: Ethnographic Analysis) focused on literature reviews (covering migration, Islamic movements, anthropology of art, and emotions) and ethnographic analysis of field notes, interviews, and testimonies.
WP5 (Dissemination, Communication, and Exploitation) involved continuous dissemination through articles, book chapters, special issues, edited volumes, and oral presentations in international conferences, alongside communication efforts via project-related textual and audiovisual materials (for the upcoming “Light Upon Darkness” website) and public talks. Further details on these activities are provided in a separate section.
This project enhances our understanding of how certain forms of interpreting and living Islam influence the individual trajectories and social practices of forced migrant women within a secular European context. Using ethnographic methods, the research opened up new opportunities to reflect on women’s experiences in ways that engage with their own beliefs and worldviews. By exploring the religious and social practices of committed Muslim women, the project decenters resistance as a defining category of women’s agency, highlighting alternative ways of negotiating identity and existence.
This project illustrates how religious significations of hicret (religious migration) offer new insights into the effects of Muslim piety on the insertion of individuals into the global spheres of the contemporary world. It contributes to a deeper scholarly understanding of the social dynamics lived Muslim migrants in Europe. Additionally, the research demonstrates how shifting sociohistorical contexts can lead to a moral revaluation of migration, enriching the academic discourse on the circumstantial significations of forced migration and exile.
Moreover, this project challenges misleading portrayals of Islam and the stigmatizing narratives about Muslims in Europe. In light of recurring mediatic and ideological representations of Islam as a suspicious “other” and of Muslim women as “oppressed” victims devoid of agency, there remains a critical need for anthropological studies that shed light on the social practices and negotiations of Muslim women in Belgium and the Netherlands. Empirically-based insights into the experiences of a religious community in these countries, especially focusing on women, are strategically relevant in terms of political and societal impact. This research contributes to changing perceptions of Muslims in general and Muslim women specifically among non-Muslim populations.
In the long run, it has the potential to improve relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims, promoting healthier encounters, and countering discriminatory attitudes and policies directed at Muslims. This, in turn, could enhance policies and decision-making related to migration, integration, and asylum requests.
This project illustrates how religious significations of hicret (religious migration) offer new insights into the effects of Muslim piety on the insertion of individuals into the global spheres of the contemporary world. It contributes to a deeper scholarly understanding of the social dynamics lived Muslim migrants in Europe. Additionally, the research demonstrates how shifting sociohistorical contexts can lead to a moral revaluation of migration, enriching the academic discourse on the circumstantial significations of forced migration and exile.
Moreover, this project challenges misleading portrayals of Islam and the stigmatizing narratives about Muslims in Europe. In light of recurring mediatic and ideological representations of Islam as a suspicious “other” and of Muslim women as “oppressed” victims devoid of agency, there remains a critical need for anthropological studies that shed light on the social practices and negotiations of Muslim women in Belgium and the Netherlands. Empirically-based insights into the experiences of a religious community in these countries, especially focusing on women, are strategically relevant in terms of political and societal impact. This research contributes to changing perceptions of Muslims in general and Muslim women specifically among non-Muslim populations.
In the long run, it has the potential to improve relationships between Muslims and non-Muslims, promoting healthier encounters, and countering discriminatory attitudes and policies directed at Muslims. This, in turn, could enhance policies and decision-making related to migration, integration, and asylum requests.