「超」多様化社会における信仰と社会統合

イギリスにおける若者ムスリムの適応戦略とその資源

抄録

　This paper investigates how young British Muslims manage their complexidentities in order to adapt to a secularized society. In the UK the issue of socialintegration of young Muslims has been gathering public attention since the 9/11attacks in New York and riots in Northern England in 2001 and especially theLondon bombing in 2005; both events were caused by young Muslims. It has beensaid that young British Muslims are becoming more and more religious and itprevents them from integrating into British democratic society. However, such anargument that problematizes Muslims has kept us from better understanding ofhow young Muslims are in reality integrated into secularized and liberal democraticsociety. This paper explores, on the basis of the interview data on young Muslims in a super-diverse area in the UK, their strategies and resources for integration. The result of the analysis demonstrates that young Muslims adapt to British society through introducing the difference between religion and culture. They have tried to purify Islam from their family culture and claim that the teachings of Islam do not have any conflict with British society. In other words, Islam is used as a tool for them to participate in secularized civil society. The development of religious institutions and the Internet make it easier for young people “to research “their religion and the knowledge which helps them to differentiate the teachings of Islam from some cultural conventions which attempt to oppress young, especially female, Muslims. Social lives in the super-diverse area also make their identity more complex, and make it more easier to communicate with people of different religions and races and to adapt to more complex and diverse social environment. The paper contributes both to theoretical discussion on “hybridity” of identity and to practical discussion on social integration of young Muslims in contemporary society.