Assignment Lecture 8: Integration - Is religion a bridge or a barrier in immigrant integration?

Lidia Martínez Lería / 28-04-2022 / Session: Integration/ r0875111

Takeaways

1. National identities are not only defined in terms of ethnic descent but cultural aspects, such as
having a Christian heritage, are important for the feeling of national belonging from the perspective
of minorities. Such European national identities of minority youth in general, and Muslims in
particular, are not inclusive and this lack of inclusiveness is constituted in specific socio-cultural
contexts. In the case of young Muslims, having few friends belonging to the majority group and
maintaining a strong commitment to religion constitutes an unfavorable scenario for developing this
sense of belonging to the nation.

2. Years ago, religion played a fundamental role in creating meaning in the daily lives of Europeans.
Recently, European countries have experienced dramatic levels of secularization and consequently,
the majority of the population is no longer actively affiliated with any religion. However, religion has
not become irrelevant; it retains a more symbolic meaning as part of national identity. In this
context, Islamic religiosity (religious commitment, prayer, participation in religious practices) has
become a problematic aspect of national identification in Europe.

Applications

1. The majority population plays a key role in the recognition of the claims of immigrants and their
descendants of belonging to the group. In recent years Islamophobic attacks have increased
considerably. These incidents do not come from a single sector but arise in institutions, social
networks, political parties, etc. On many occasions, attitudes of intolerance and discrimination are
accompanied by hate speeches that promote and justify the rejection of the minority. To prevent
these hate speeches from developing into absolute ideas in the population, it is necessary to provide
spaces to fight prejudice and interreligious dialogue is an optimal way to achieve this. This dialogue
consists of encounters between people of different religions for the purpose of exchanging values,
thoughts, etc and could be carried out for example by financing projects such as international
volunteer programs.

2. Greater religious adaptation can foster the national identification of Muslims by communicating to
them that they are accepted as citizens while respecting their religious identity. Therefore, I think it
would be interesting to conduct seminars in schools that teach how to deal with situations of
potential conflict and discrimination, especially in multireligious neighborhoods. In addition, offering
psychological support in schools for women who are the ones who most often suffer discriminatory
treatment because of the veil as a visual identity marker.