Between Intensification and Relativisation. Modalities and Mechanisms of Religious Change among Muslim and Christian Refugees from Syria in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Alexander-Kenneth Nagel
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 530542259

The aim of the proposed Weave project is to explore the spectrum of religiosity and the modalities and mechanisms of religious change among Syrian refugees in a country-comparative perspective. In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, people from Syria have formed the largest or second largest group of asylum seekers since 2011. Early on, various politicians have addressed the religious background of refugees in the context of integration policy. They portraited Muslim asylum seekers as a potential threat for social integration and advocated a preferential admission of Christians in need of protection. The since the early 200s ongoing Islamophobic discourse has essentialised Islam and Muslims as an outgroup and a threat to social cohesion. This anti-Muslim discourse also shaped the perception of the arrival of refugees in Western Europe due to the “Arab Spring” and the war in Syria. Despite this socio-political interest in the religion of refugees, so far, neither the characteristic differences between Christian and Muslim refugees nor the spectrum of their religiosity nor the patterns of religious change in the context of flight have received proper attention in academic studies of religion and migration. The project intends to help reducing these lacunas. It proceeds on the assumption that religious change among refugees moves along a spectrum between relativisation and intensification of religious belief, practice and community attachment. We assume that religious change is shaped by systemic structures of the countries of arrival, such as migration and welfare regimes, the politicisation of Islamophobic discourse and the institutional accommodation of religious minorities. Against this backdrop, we formulate several assumptions with regard to socio-demographic categories (age and gender), migration biography, minority status, religious affinity and difference to the countries’ majority religion. These assumptions will serve as a heuristic tool in order to identify and systematise the various influencing factors on religious changes as well as a starting point for the analysis of the modalities and mechanisms of religious change. The research design is based on a combination of semi-structured interviews, expert interviews and photojournalistic documentation along the Photovoice approach. This mixed-methods design will help to uncover different dimensions of religious change and to synthesise emic and etic perspectives. The project is of scientific and societal relevance as it aims to improve the level of knowledge about the spectrum of religiosity and religious change among Syrian refugees faced with Islamophobic discourse and other forms of discrimination. This study hopes to help contributing to a more evidence-based debate about refugees and their religion which can help to inform migration and integration politics.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Austria, Switzerland
• Partner Organisation: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)
• Cooperation Partners: Professor Dr. Martin Baumann; Professorin Dr. Regina Polak