European Muslims Transforming the Public Sphere

Asmaa Soliman is a Visiting Research Fellow at UCL’s Institute of Advanced Studies and at LSE’s European Institute, both in the UK. She has previously worked at Maastricht University, the Economic and Social Research Council UK, the University of East London, Aljazeera English, Qantara-Deutsche Welle, Arts Versa, the European Network against Racism, Alhayah TV and Alaraby TV. Her major research interests include the sociology of religion, Islam in Europe, religion and the arts, religion and media, religion and the public sphere, intercultural relations, youth culture, identity, multiculturalism, migration, Europe-Middle East relations.

• Introduction 1 Review of Literature and Theoretical Framework 2 German Muslim Identity-An Inside Perspective 3 Participatory Culture: Strong Counterpublics 4 Participatory Culture: Soft Counterpublics 5 Participatory Culture: Beyond Counterpublics Conclusion

'Asmaa Soliman illuminates in a particular way how Muslims are becoming part of Europe. She focuses on a group of young Muslims in Germany who had a strong sense of being and wanting to be Muslims and an equally strong sense of being Germans, and who wanted to reconcile this for themselves and to be accepted as such by others. She shows how they are creatively participating in the arts, media and civil society and in the process both developing new identities for themselves and transforming the public sphere they are participating in. In this way her study is an alternative to the ‘us-them’ dualistic approaches and shows that if we go beyond issues of cultural threat and exclusionary politics, we not only open up new areas of research but intimations of our future. This is a pioneering study pointing to more hopeful times.'Tariq Modood, FBA, University of Bristol, UK'In a context where debates on Muslims in Europe are stifled with discussions of integration, terrorism, and discrimination, Soliman’s works on European Muslims’ participation in the arts, media and civil society provides a fresh perspective. She shows that these young Muslims are at the forefront of a new religious public sphere that cuts across religious boundaries'Esra Özyürek, European Institute, London School of Economics, UK'In contrast to the outpouring of research on the ‘problem’ of Muslims in Europe, here is a book which considers how young Muslims are contributing to a range of participatory cultures, including music, acting, poetry, blogging, art, film and volunteering. It’s refreshing and revealing, and it opens the door to a whole new approach.'Linda Woodhead, Lancaster University, UK