Civic Engagement and Identity Formation: Narrative Identities of Swiss Muslim Youth Actively Engaged in Voluntary Associations

Abstract

Drawing on narrative autobiographical interviews with three young Muslims who are actively engaged in religious as well as non-religious voluntary associations, this study delivers an analysis of the dialectics of volunteerism and identity formation. All three interviewees belong to the second generation of Muslim migrants in Switzerland. For its theoretical orientation, the study draws on Georg Simmel’s thesis of intersecting social circles and on the concept of social identity complexity proposed by Sonia Roccas and Marylinn Brewer. The study is part of a larger research project that explores Muslims’ engagement in different types of voluntary associations and examines the question whether this engagement has an impact on the social identities of the respective individuals and on their attitudes towards outgroups. The three case studies discussed in this study represent the three modes of impact of civic engagement on identity formation which emerged from the wider research project.