European Muslims’ engagement in the public sphere soft counterpublics

ABSTRACT

This article addresses European Muslims’ public engagement in the arts by applying the concept of counterpublics. It examines two case studies of young German Muslims whose involvement in the public sphere can be described as soft counterpublics. The term soft counterpublics denotes publics that show some characteristics of counterpublics, but are at the same time not only about ‘countering’. They can be seen as ‘in between’ cases, neither strong counterpublics nor completely beyond counterpublics. Their art reflects a diversity of interests that are translated into public expressions and related back to their multiple identities. Motivations and themes are multi-layered. Occasionally, topics address stereotypes and negative identity representations of Muslims, which reflect important characteristics of counterpublics. However, themes can deal with a broad range of matters that go beyond this particular issue and that can be seen in isolation of counterpublics. On the one hand, there is a natural interest in the arts as a tool to express oneself, which is not a typical case of counterpublics. On the other hand, there is also the intention to speak to people through the arts. As well as wanting to reach the Muslim youth community in Germany, who can identify with their art, the case studies are also concerned about the non-Muslim German community and its perception of Muslim identity in Germany.

KEYWORDS:

• Islam in Europe
• German Muslim youths
• public sphere
• counterpublics
• identity
• arts

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Asmaa Soliman is a Doctor of Sociology. She has completed her PhD at UCL's Centre for Multidisciplinary and Intercultural Inquiry, which deals with European Muslim youths and their engagement in the public sphere. Soliman works currently for UCL's Arts and Sciences bachelor programme, where she teaches and acts as a Pathway Representative for Societies. Soliman also works as a researcher for the ESRC-funded research project ‘Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue’.

Notes

1. This study is part of a broader research project that was conducted at the University College London, examining several case studies of German Muslims’ public engagement in relation to their identities. The material results from two years of ethnographic research and in-depth interviews that took place between 2012 and 2014 across various cities in Germany. The article includes 2 case studies of young German Muslims who belong to the second generation of Muslim immigrants in Germany and who are visible in the public sphere.