Classifying Muslims: Contextualizing Religion and Race in the United Kingdom and Germany

Since the late 20th century, public discourse in Muslim-minority countries has centered around the question of how to classify Muslims. In this paper, we compare the state, academic, and self-classification of Muslims in two countries: the United Kingdom and Germany. We propose that the historical e...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Becker, Elisabeth (Author) ; Rinado, Rachel (Author) ; Guhin, Jeffrey (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2023
In: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Year: 2023, Volume: 62, Issue: 4, Pages: 749-769
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Great Britain / Germany / Muslim / Immigrants / Classification / Religion / Race / History 1960-2023
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BJ Islam
KBB German language area
KBF British Isles
NCC Social ethics
NCD Political ethics
TK Recent history
Further subjects:B Muslims
B Race
B Religion
B United Kingdom
B Germany
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Summary:Since the late 20th century, public discourse in Muslim-minority countries has centered around the question of how to classify Muslims. In this paper, we compare the state, academic, and self-classification of Muslims in two countries: the United Kingdom and Germany. We propose that the historical experience of anti-Semitism makes religion a more salient master category to understand Muslims in Germany, while the history of both anti-Semitism and anti-Black racism largely resulting from colonial domination means that religion together with race are master categories used to understand Muslims in the United Kingdom. Through this multilayered ethnographic and historical analysis, we challenge taken-for-granted assumptions in both the political and academic milieu about what it means to be Muslim, emphasizing the importance of the interplay between sociopolitical categories and self-identifications.
ISSN:1468-5906
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal for the scientific study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/jssr.12865