“The Religious Identity of Young Muslim Women in Berlin: An
Ethnography Study” by Synnøve K.N. Bendixsen
About the book:
The Religious Identity of Young Muslim Women in Berlin offers an
in-depth ethnographic account of Muslim youth’s religious identity
formation and their engagement with Islam in everyday life. Focusing
on Muslim women in the organisation MJD in Germany, it provides a
deeper understanding of processes related to immigration,
transnationalism, the transformation of identifications and the
reconstruction of selfhood. The book deals with the collective content
of religious identity formation and processes of differentiation,
engaging with the changing role of religion in an urban European
setting, restructuring of religious authority and the formation of
gender identity through religion. Synnøve K.N. Bendixsen examines how
the participants seek and debate what it means to be a good Muslim,
and discusses the religious movement as individual engagement in a
collective project.
Review:
“At last, a richly-textured, ethnographic study which takes
religiosity seriously. This fine study of young women’s involvement in
a particular, Islamic movement in Berlin illuminates the reasons for
‘the turn to Islam’ of a new generation in Europe. […] Marked
throughout by methodological and analytical sophistication, it
challenges many easy generalisations about how Muslims born and
educated in Europe appropriate Islam.” Philip Lewis, University of
Bradford.
Table of content:
Acknowledgements
A Note on Language and Sources
Introduction
Situating the Field and Methodological Reflections Making Sense of the
City: The Religious Spaces of Young Muslim Women in Berlin
Negotiating, Resisting and (Re)Constructing Othering Crafting the
Religious Individual in a Faith Community Trajectories of Religious
Acts and Desires: Bargaining with Religious Norms and Ideals Making a
Religious Gender Order The Meanings of and Incentives for a Religious
Identification Conclusion Appendix 1: Situating the Movements Studied
within the Wider Islamic Field in Germany Bibliography Index
More information is available at the following site:
http://www.brill.com/
