AMC Colloquium: European Muslims Transforming the Public Sphere

AMC Colloquium: ‘European Muslims Transforming the Public Sphere: Religious Participation in the Arts, Media and Civil Society’

Talk by: Asmaa Soliman
Response by: Lana Sirri

When: Wednesday 7 February, 15.30-17.30
Where: Spiegelzaal, Soiron building, Grote Gracht 80-82

Abstract

Anti-Muslim voices have become louder in many places in the midst of ongoing atrocities undertaken in the name of Islam. As a result, much of the creative participation of Western Muslims in the public sphere has become overshadowed. This tendency is not only visible in political discussions and the media landscape, but it is also often reflected in academia where research about Muslims in the West is predominantly shaped by the post 9/11 narrative. In contrast, Asmaa Soliman’s book European Muslims Transforming the Public Sphere (2017) puts forward a new approach to understanding minority public engagement, suggesting that we need to go beyond conceptualisations that look at Muslims in the West mainly through the minority lens. The book brings into dialogue minority-specific and non-minority specific concepts. Using young German Muslims engaged in media, the arts and culture and civil society as case studies, it utilises the concepts of counterpublics and participatory culture to re-examine Muslims’ engagement within the public sphere. It presents a qualitative analysis, which has resulted from two years of ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation, in-depth interviews and primary source analysis. The book finds that the case studies display different forms of publics, illustrating German Muslims’ creative contributions to the public sphere. It argues that their publics can best be understood in terms of participation and contribution to the wider German public. It argues further that their contributions transform the public sphere, either by the emergence of alternative counterpublics that consciously call for the recognition of German Muslims’ normality or by artistic and civic publics that unconsciously embody the normality of German Muslims.

Submit your comment

Please enter your name

Your name is required

Please enter a valid email address

An email address is required

Please enter your message

FASoS Weekly © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Designed by WPSHOWER

Powered by WordPress