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

宗教在建立青年身份和归属感方面的作用，特别是移民背景的青年，往往是整个欧洲和非洲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日在伦敦发生的爆炸等重大国际事件，以及学术界和政策制定者对宗教的兴趣与日俱增，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，与美国不同，在欧洲，宗教尤其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与移徙有关的多样性和安全的公开辩论的背景下，我们对非洲移徙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论述倾向于对移民背景的年轻人的流动和身份采取一种二元的方法，无论是移民背景的第一代和第二代还是留守家庭、收容国还是家园、全球北方还是全球南方。同时，非洲移民背景的年轻人本身的经历和观点仍然很少被理解。该项目旨在分析宗教和灵性在建立青年身份和归属感方面的作用，在伦敦和伯明翰(英国)、拉各斯(尼日利亚)、哈拉雷(津巴布韦)和约翰内斯堡(南非)具有尼日利亚和津巴布韦移民背景的跨国青年(15-35岁)中。我们将调查被归类为“第一代、第二代”和“留守”的年轻人，将移民来源国和移民接受国结合起来。通过这样做，该项目将增进我们对移徙如何影响国内外年轻人的宗教和精神生活的了解。该项目将通过对跨民族主义、流动转向和活宗教的理论观点的综合，产生重要的新学术见解。它将通过以下方式对宗教和移徙领域作出两个独特的贡献：(1)超越以前的研究和现有政策论述，对移徙背景的青年的流动和身份采取二元方法，主要是从“第一代和第二代”或“留守”、“全球北方”或“全球南方”的角度，以强调青年、思想和宗教习俗的多方向流动；(2)从对有组织的宗教的主要关注转向对“活的宗教”的关注，这允许探索年轻人的日常活动和身份认同。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关键利益相关者。实地考察地点包括四个国家(括号中的负责机构)：英国(格拉斯哥大学)、尼日利亚(卡拉巴大学)、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。这项研究将重点关注居住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实践者。在与移民相关的多样性日益增加的背景下，社会中关于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，以便通过插入基于研究的见解来为搭建桥梁、为辩论提供信息和化解争执做出贡献。这项研究将通过创造关于移民和宗教的深入知识来增加现有努力的价值，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。

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.