To Belong or Not to Belong: Identity among Muslim Diasporas in the Netherlands
(Southwestern University)
The Netherlands has the highest percentage of Muslims of any Western European country, and Muslims in the Netherlands, as in other European countries, experience resounding institutional racism and public discrimination. Based upon two months of ethnographic research in the Netherlands and a visit to Turkey, in this paper I analyze how Muslims in the Netherlands negotiate maintaining their varied Muslim identities, deal with the barriers of racism that confront them, and attempt to craft a way to live in this northern European country. My findings suggest that those migrants who are able to simultaneously express their Muslim identity and embrace a sense of Dutchness are able to most effectively navigate life as a Muslim immigrant in the Netherlands.