Christian Smith Daniel N. DeHanas University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Immigrant second generation youth in Europe, particularly young Muslims, have been the subject of frequent concern and controversy over public expressions of religious faith. How does religion influence the kinds of citizens second generation youth are becoming? More specifically, in which ways do religious identities provide resources or constraints for the development of national identity, political articulacy, and active civic engagement?
This dissertation research will contribute to a social scientific understanding of religion and citizenship with a comparative study of second generation Bangladeshi youth (largely Muslim) and Jamaican youth (largely Christian) in London, England. The youth will be aged 18 to 25, male and female, and systematically selected from the East End and Brixton, two similarly mixed-income and ethnically concentrated areas of Inner London. A total of 120 in-depth semi-structured interviews will be conducted, 40 with Bangladeshis, 40 with Jamaicans, and 40 with religious leaders and other local residents. These interviews will be complemented by ethnographic observation in eight systematically selected area mosques and churches that draw significant attendance from second generation youth. With its mixed methods and comparative research design, this dissertation is uniquely placed to investigate and explain the various pathways by which Muslim, Christian, and non-religious youth develop identities and practice citizenship.
This dissertation will have broader impacts in at least three important ways. Significant research attention is now given to the integration of young second generation Muslims in Europe. A first broader impact of the dissertation will be to expand that research agenda by comparing young Muslims to the often ignored, but numerically similar, population of young second generation Christians, providing new comparative insights. Second, this study will inform policy makers who address the concerns of the study populations, as it promises to illuminate the role of religion in citizenship and ways in which young people can develop into more fully engaged citizens. Finally, there are plans for written and presented dissemination of the findings to both academic and non-academic audiences in the U.S., Britain, and elsewhere in Europe. Each nation has different immigration patterns and integration policies, and audiences will gain insights from the dissertation that can be applied to their own particular social contexts.
