Islamist Attitudes Among Muslim Youth in Germany. Continuation, Differentiation, Expansion.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Wilhelm Heitmeyer
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 386119129

Twenty years after the first empirical survey of Islamist attitudes among Muslim youth in Germany, conducted by the applicant in 1995 (Heitmeyer et al. 1997) a new study is proposed to continue the original approach, differentiate the surveyed groups, and expand the research questions in the light of intervening events.Such a study is needed because Islamist activities in mosques, Islamist terrorism in the Middle East and Europe and the phenomenon of young people joining Salafist/jihadist movements all point to the question of the Islamist attitudes found today among young Muslims who appear susceptible to the call to join the jihad.It is therefore crucial to know the patterns, and social context of such attitudes among adolescents, including the actors who promote them and the experiences of community and strength they generate, and to analyze the findings a) in a temporal comparison, b) in a comparison between Muslim groups; and c) in a (temporal and group) comparison of causes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants