The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Transnational Young People of African Migrant Background

非洲移民背景的跨国青年的宗教和精神生活

• 批准号: ES/X002276/1
• 负责人: Dominic Pasura
• 金额: $ 96.64万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FX002276%2F1
• 关键词: Religious; Spiritual; Lives; Transnational; Young

The role of religion in the construction of youth identities and belonging, especially those of migrant background, is often the subject of policy and public concern across Europe and Africa. Major international events such as the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 in the USA and the London bombings of 7 July 2005, and the growing interest from academics and policy makers, have brought religion to the fore from the confines of the private sphere. Research on migrant religions indicates that in Europe, unlike in the United States, religion and Islam in particular is considered a barrier rather than a bridge to integration. Within the context of the rise of religious extremism and public debates about migration-related diversity and security, our focus on transnational young people of African migrant background directly responds to these policy issues and debates. Previous research and existing policy discourses tend to adopt a binary approach to the movement and identities of young people of migrant background in terms of 'first- and second-generation' or 'left-behind', host or home, Global North or Global South. Meanwhile, the experiences and perspectives of young people of African migrant background themselves remain little understood.This project aims to analyse the role of religion and spirituality in constructing youth identities and a sense of belonging among transnational young people (aged 15-35) of Nigerian and Zimbabwean migrant backgrounds in London and Birmingham (UK), Lagos (Nigeria), Harare (Zimbabwe) and Johannesburg (South Africa). We will investigate young people categorised as 'first- and second-generation' and 'left behind', combining migrant-origin and migrant-receiving countries. In doing so, the project will advance our knowledge of the ways migration impacts young people's religious and spiritual lives at home and abroad. The project will generate important new academic insights through its synthesis of theoretical perspectives on transnationalism, the mobility turn and lived religion. It will make two distinctive contributions to the field of religion and migration by: (1) going beyond previous research and existing policy discourses that adopt a binary approach to movement and identities of young people of migrant background primarily in terms of 'first- and second-generation' or 'left-behind', Global North or Global South in order to emphasise the multi-directional movements of young people, ideas and religious practices; (2) shifting away from the dominant focus on organised religion towards a focus on 'lived religion' which allows for an exploration of young people's everyday practices and identities.The project brings together international scholars and key stakeholders interested in the study of religion and migration between the UK and Africa. The fieldwork sites include four countries (the responsible institution in brackets): United Kingdom (University of Glasgow), Nigeria (University of Calabar), Zimbabwe (University of Zimbabwe) and South Africa (University of Pretoria) and five cities: London, Birmingham, Harare, Johannesburg and Lagos. The study will focus on young people living in urban neighbourhoods and practitioners of Christian, Muslim and African Indigenous Religions faiths.In contexts of increasing migration-related diversity, where polarisation in society over religious diversity is growing, the project will shed light on how religion and migration have affected the identities and sense of belonging of young people of African migrant backgrounds in order to contribute to building bridges, informing debates and defusing contestation with the insertion of research-based insights. This study will add value to the existing efforts by creating in-depth knowledge on migration and religion, using its findings to understand better transnational migration processes and the social cohesion of the increasingly multi-religious and multi-cultural UK and African societies.

宗教在青年人，特别是有移民背景的青年人的身份和归属感的构建中的作用，往往是整个欧洲和非洲的政策和公众关注的主题。2001年9月11日在美国发生的恐怖袭击和2005年7月7日伦敦爆炸案等重大国际事件，以及学术界和决策者日益增长的兴趣，使宗教从私人领域的局限中脱颖而出。对移民宗教的研究表明，在欧洲，与美国不同，宗教，特别是伊斯兰教被认为是融合的障碍，而不是桥梁。在宗教极端主义抬头和关于移徙相关多样性和安全的公开辩论的背景下，我们对非洲移民背景的跨国青年的关注直接回应了这些政策问题和辩论。以往的研究和现有的政策话语往往采取一种二元的方法来移动和移民背景的青年人的身份，在“第一代和第二代”或“留守”，主机或家庭，全球北方或全球南方。同时，非洲移民背景的青年人本身的经历和观点仍不为人所知。本项目旨在分析宗教和精神信仰在构建青年身份和跨国青年归属感方面的作用在伦敦和伯明翰（联合王国）、拉各斯（尼日利亚）、哈拉雷（津巴布韦）和约翰内斯堡（南非），有尼日利亚和津巴布韦移民背景的15-35岁妇女。我们将调查被归类为“第一代和第二代”和“留守”的年轻人，结合移民来源国和移民接收国。通过这样做，该项目将增进我们对移徙如何影响国内外青年的宗教和精神生活的了解。该项目将通过其对跨国主义，流动性转向和生活宗教的理论观点的综合，产生重要的新的学术见解。它将通过以下方式对宗教和移徙领域作出两项独特的贡献：（1）超越以往的研究和现有的政策论述，这些研究和政策论述对移民背景的年轻人的流动和身份采取二元方法，主要是“第一代和第二代”或“留守”，全球北方或全球南方，以强调年轻人的多方向流动，（2）从主要关注有组织的宗教转向关注“活的宗教”，这允许探索年轻人的日常实践和身份。该项目汇集了对英国和非洲之间的宗教和移民研究感兴趣的国际学者和主要利益相关者。实地工作地点包括四个国家（括号内为负责机构）：联合王国（格拉斯哥大学）、尼日利亚（卡拉巴尔大学）、津巴布韦（津巴布韦大学）和南非（比勒陀利亚大学）以及五个城市：伦敦、伯明翰、哈拉雷、约翰内斯堡和拉各斯。这项研究将侧重于生活在城市社区的年轻人以及基督教、穆斯林和非洲土著宗教信仰的信奉者。在与移民有关的多样性日益增加的背景下，社会对宗教多样性的两极分化正在加剧，该项目将揭示宗教和移民如何影响非洲移民背景的年轻人的身份和归属感，以促进建设桥梁，为辩论提供信息，并通过插入基于研究的见解来化解争端。这项研究将通过创造关于移民和宗教的深入知识，利用其研究结果更好地了解跨国移民过程以及日益多宗教和多文化的英国和非洲社会的社会凝聚力，为现有的努力增加价值。