Abstract:
This paper has two parts. The first is based on the critical review of migration and religion research by Magdalena Nordin and Jonas Otterbeck (Migration and Religion, Springer, 2023). Far too often, Muslims in Europe find themselves at the centre of research attention framed by questions formulated from the vantage point of the political interests of dominant and established populations in Europe. The research often fails to acknowledge and go into depth with experiences and urgencies of Muslims, many of them migrants. Research frequently ignores Muslim informants’ references to the importance of Islam to them in important decisions, failing to understand motivations and evidently not pursuing their individual understanding of Islam. Yet, the research keeps identifying the informants using the religious identifier ‘Muslim’ instead of other alternatives, for example ethnic, national, professional, or other identities.
The second part presents an alternative. It demonstrates how a change in attentiveness to the people you study can help formulate new questions and new research projects, relevant both to the people studied and to society at large. Examples will be centred on ongoing research among (mainly) Muslims in London, especially people engaged in creative work. Muslim creatives often capture the dreams, concerns, ambitions and sensitivities of other Muslims. The paper makes references to research concerning nashid pop music, Muslim ballet, photography and painting. A central argument is that when paying attention to what the people you study pay attention to, other types of descriptions and analyses of Islam and Muslims become possible: The importance of charity and of contributing and the relation of this to Islamic ethics and aesthetics; The concerns of raising a family but maintaining Islam, navigating racism and discrimination; The building of identity as a minority; Again, the relation of all of this to Islam. Many also process their understanding of Islam in relation to other people’s understanding, finding each other’s preferences and interpretations deeply problematic, causing splits, conflicts but also reflexivity. All these situations are captured by Muslim creatives and their arts that in the presentation serve as gateways.
Bio: Jonas Otterbeck is the Rasul-Walker Chair in Popular Culture in Islam at the Aga Khan University, and has engaged in research about contemporary Islam, often with political relevance. His most recent research is on Islamic pop music and especially the media company Awakening and its artists. He also has an interest in research on music censorship and an engagement for artists’ right to expression. He has previously work at Lund and Malmö University. Otterbeck has, among other things, published about Muslim pupils in Swedish schools, the identity constructions of Muslim youth and their understanding of Islam, the representation of Islam and Muslims in Sweden, Islamic revivalist discourse, active citizenship among Muslims, and the relation between European states and Muslim organizations. Among his most recent publications are the books The Awakening of Islamic Pop Music (EUP, 2021) and Migration and Religion (with Magdalena Nordin).
