Abstract
Cities around the world are diversifying in a rapid pace and a metropolitan city such as Antwerp is no exception to this trend. Against the background of the ongoing refugee crisis, international conflict in the Middle-East and jihadi-Salafist terrorism, many Flemish natives currently perceive the growing presence of Muslims as a fundamental threat to our society. The latter is imagined as a secular, or at least 'inherently' non-Islamic society. However, Muslims are often a marginal voice in these public debates and insights on how Muslim identities are (re-)negotiated in such a 'hostile' context are scarce. Some research has indicated that the hostility towards Muslims is growing, while, at the same time, the religious identity of many Muslims is becoming more important and tends to be represented as a crucial emblem of their identity. Many Muslims, however, rather denounce the essentializing processes placed upon them by many Flemish natives, which tend to perceive and categorize Muslims solely based upon this religious affiliation. It is this conundrum the current research proposal wants to tackle: how is ethno-religious identity of Muslims in Flanders made and unmade in the everyday interaction between individuals, as well as in the broader public debate? The proposed project aims to further analyse this apparent conundrum by putting forward the hypothesis that a growing religious self-identification among Muslims is related to the deteriorating public image of Islam and Muslim identity. To gain insights in these often unconscious and difficult to grasp processes of boundary and identity work, we designed a multiphase mixed methods design in three distinct sequences. Furthermore, we study these processes in nine different settings: four secondary schools, one tertiary education setting and four labour market settings to get fine-grained insight both on the individual as well as on the institutional level (socio-demographic composition of the specific context and open or conservative approach to diversity). The innovative methodological framework engages with these issues via three strategies: we start with a broad survey analysis to construct specific profiles of respondents that are used to deepen our understanding in two subsequent phases. First respondents with specific profiles are asked to participate in individual in-depth interviews facilitated by the Photo Q Methodology as to study boundary work from the perspective of the individual. In a final stage individuals are asked to participate in 'confrontational' focus group discussions to study boundary and identity work in a real life resembling interactional context as to study how boundaries are reworked when confronted with significant others.
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