"Muslims in the Modern Sense": Kabyles Negotiating Religious Identity in the Czech Republic

Kód výsledku v IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216275%3A25210%2F18%3A39914077" target="_blank" >RIV/00216275:25210/18:39914077 - isvavai.cz</a>

Výsledek na webu

—

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

—

Jazyk výsledku

angličtina

Název v původním jazyce

"Muslims in the Modern Sense": Kabyles Negotiating Religious Identity in the Czech Republic

Popis výsledku v původním jazyce

In this paper, I examine the dynamics of deterritorilized identities of Kabyle immigrants to the Czech Republic focusing on the interconnection between ethnicity (i.e. Kabyle), national identity (i.e. Algerian), and religious identity (i.e. Muslim). In contrast with other immigrants’ groups coming from Muslim countries to Europe (such as Pakistanis in Great Britain or Algerian Arabs in France), Kabyles in the Czech Republic do not use their religious identity as a boundary marker and as a symbol of unification and exclusion. There are multiple reasons for this situation. Already in Algeria, Kabyles have an ambivalent relationship with Islam. The process of colonization and the subsequent construction of Algerian national identity, which stresses Arab identity, has excluded Kabyles, and has had a negative impact on their perception of Islam. Kabyle immigrants associate ‘kabylity’ with secular principles, modernity, individualism, and freedom. I analyze how their ideas about ‘kabylity’ and the specific character of their migration shape their religious practice. Despite their ambivalence towards Islam, many of them declare themselves as Muslims. They often rely on the phrase ‘Muslim in the modern sense’ in order to describe their religious identity. I interpret the meaning of these declarations and illustrate how this attitude serves as an efficient strategy for integration into an Islamophobic Czech society.

Název v anglickém jazyce

"Muslims in the Modern Sense": Kabyles Negotiating Religious Identity in the Czech Republic

Popis výsledku anglicky

In this paper, I examine the dynamics of deterritorilized identities of Kabyle immigrants to the Czech Republic focusing on the interconnection between ethnicity (i.e. Kabyle), national identity (i.e. Algerian), and religious identity (i.e. Muslim). In contrast with other immigrants’ groups coming from Muslim countries to Europe (such as Pakistanis in Great Britain or Algerian Arabs in France), Kabyles in the Czech Republic do not use their religious identity as a boundary marker and as a symbol of unification and exclusion. There are multiple reasons for this situation. Already in Algeria, Kabyles have an ambivalent relationship with Islam. The process of colonization and the subsequent construction of Algerian national identity, which stresses Arab identity, has excluded Kabyles, and has had a negative impact on their perception of Islam. Kabyle immigrants associate ‘kabylity’ with secular principles, modernity, individualism, and freedom. I analyze how their ideas about ‘kabylity’ and the specific character of their migration shape their religious practice. Despite their ambivalence towards Islam, many of them declare themselves as Muslims. They often rely on the phrase ‘Muslim in the modern sense’ in order to describe their religious identity. I interpret the meaning of these declarations and illustrate how this attitude serves as an efficient strategy for integration into an Islamophobic Czech society.

Druh

C - Kapitola v odborné knize

CEP obor

—

OECD FORD obor

50404 - Anthropology, ethnology

Projekt

—

Návaznosti

N - Vyzkumna aktivita podporovana z neverejnych zdroju

Rok uplatnění

2018

Kód důvěrnosti údajů

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Název knihy nebo sborníku

Islam in the West. Perceptions and Reactions

ISBN

978-0-19-948711-0

Počet stran výsledku

18

Strana od-do

197-214

Počet stran knihy

266

Název nakladatele

Oxford &amp; IBH Publ Co PVT Ltd

Místo vydání

New Delhi

Kód UT WoS kapitoly

—