Localizing Islam in Europe

Localizing Islam in Europe
Turkish Islamic Communities in Germany and the Netherlands

Ahmet Yükleyen

In the twentieth century, Muslim minorities emerged in Europe seeking work, a refuge from conflict, and higher life standards. As a result, there are now more than 12 million Muslims in Western Europe. As these immigrants became permanent residents, the Islamic communities they developed had to respond to their European context, reinterpreting Islam in accordance with local conditions. In Localizing Islam in Europe, Yükleyen brings this adaptation to light, demonstrating how Islam and Europe have shaped one another and challenging the idea that Islamic beliefs are inherently antithetical to European secular, democratic, and pluralist values.

 

Yûkleyen compares five different forms of religious communities among Muslim immigrants in the Netherlands and Germany that represent a spectrum from moderate to revolutionary Islamic opinions. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, he finds that, despite differences in goals and beliefs, these communities play an intermediary role, negotiating between the social and religious needs of Muslims and the socioeconomic, legal, and political context of Europe. Yûkleyen’s rich ethnography shows that there is no single form of assimilated and privatized "European Islam" but rather Islamic communities and their interpretations and practices that localize Islam in Europe.

 

Islams and Muslim !

Islam and Muslims in Germany

Edited by Ala Al-Hamarneh and Jörn Thielmann

In the European discourse of post 9/11 reality, concepts such as “Multiculturalism”, “Integration” and “European Islam” are becoming more and more topical. The empirically- based contributions in this volume aim to reflect the variety of current Muslim social practices and life-worlds in Germany. The volume goes beyond the fragmented methods of minority case studies and the monolithic view of Muslims as portrayed by mass media to present fresh theoretical approaches and in-depth analyses of a rich mosaic of communities, cultures and social practices. Issues of politics, religion, society, economics, media, art, literature, law and gender are addressed. The result is a vibrant state-of-the-art publication of studies of real-life communities and individuals.

 

Call for Papers

GERMANY AND TURKEY IN INTERACTION

HISTORICAL & CROSSCULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES AND INSTITUTIONS

 

A Conference jointly organized by Goethe Institute and YTU, Center for Global Studies

10-12 September 2009, Yildiz Technical University, İstanbul, Turkey

 

We are pleased to announce the jointly organized Conference of Yildiz Technical University, Center for Global Studies and Goethe Institute, titled  “Germany and Turkey in Interaction: Historical and Crosscultural Perspectives on Religious Identities and Institutions.”

 

The conference aims to identify the mutual influences between the two countries specifically in the area of discourses regarding the place of religion in the national identity and imagery, and the tensions between the institutions that regulate religious life and those that regulate secular citizenship.

 

The first part of the Conference will aim to develop a historical perspective in mapping out the role of religion in the contested process of state and nation building in both Turkey and Germany. The second part will focus on the contemporary institutional structures and processes that create, regulate, differentiate, and repress religious identities.

Although the conference has a comparative framework, individual papers should not necessarily strive to include a discussion of both countries, as long as the paper addresses one of the conference themes. 

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