In recent years, migration research has documented a major shift in discourses surrounding immigration and immigrants towards discourses on religion and Muslims. Accordingly, not only was there a change in public perceptions, but also a (re-)entry of religion-related topics into migration research. This seminar provides an overview of current research in the sociology of migration and in the sociology of religion in this thematic field. An important research question is how religion and religiosity influence the integration and positioning of immigrants and their descendants in the host society: Do religion and religiosity provide immigrants in Europe and North America with an impetus for or against integration? Under what conditions do (ascribed) religion and religiosity lead to exclusion or discrimination by non-immigrants? Do immigrants respond to experiences of discrimination with increased religiosity? Furthermore, the seminar deals with international differences and changes in the institutional integration of immigrant religious minorities. For instance, we will discuss what demands immigrant religious minorities make, what rights they receive from the state, and how these rights (or the lack thereof) affect the social integration and religiosity of immigrant religious minorities. Finally, questions from the sociology of religion, which conceptualize migration primarily as a factor for religious change in the modern age, will also be addressed.
- Lehrende/r: Eylem Kanol