Monika Salzbrunn

The Occupation of Public Space Through Religious and Political Events: How Senegalese Migrants Became a Part of Harlem, New York

During the last twenty years, Senegalese migration has shifted from West African cities to France, from France to its European neighbour countries and finally towards the United States of America. Whereas the secular French state discourages religious display, especially within public space, the more community-oriented USA is far from opposed to religious expression in the public sphere. In this article, I analyze how Senegalese migrants who have grown up in secular states (Senegal and/or France) use American public space to demonstrate their political and religious identity through the organization of special events. Even though the migrants, notably the political and religious activists, take into consideration the cultural and political differences between their different places of residence, they follow continuous strategies across their translocal spaces. Special events like the Murid Parade in July or the Senegalese presidential election campaign in spring 2000 provide rich empirical data for the analysis of the complex interaction between Senegalese inside and outside their country, their translocal networks and their connections to the local situation in New York City. The latter includes the different inhabitants of Harlem and the local geographical setting, the representatives of the state and the politics of migration, as well as the Mayor and his political program. The recently opened House of Islam, founded by members of the Murid Sufi order in Harlem, shows how deeply the Senegalese in the US are already rooted. However, the annual religious event organized by the Murids is only one demonstration of identity politics. In order to illustrate the diversity of the community, I show how the events organized during the Senegalese presidential election campaign in 2000 in New York City take into consideration the complexity of the religious, political and economic identities of the American Senegalese.

How diverse is Cologne carnival? How migrants appropriate popular art spaces.

The present article contributes to the ongoing academic debate on migrants’ appropriation of artistic and political spaces in Germany. Cologne, one of the largest cities in Germany, is an interesting example of the tension between political discourse centred around multiculturalism and cultural segregation processes. The ‘no fool is illegal’ carnival organised by asylum seekers shows their capacity to act, as they reinvent an old local tradition by reinterpreting medieval rituals. Today, different groups and associations appropriate this festive art space: migrants, gays and lesbians, feminists and far-left groups either organise their own parties or take part in the official parties and parades as separate groups. As a result, the celebration of diversity figures on the local political agenda and becomes part of the official carnival festivities. This leads to a blurring of boundaries, whereby mainstream popular culture becomes more and more influenced by multicultural elements.

Appartenances en fête : entre l’ordinaire et le spectaculaire

While regular religious practice is decreasing and the major religious groups are losing formally registered members, a ‘spectacularization’ of religious belonging can be observed over the last two decades. The author presents two examples to support this argument. In the first, the transnational network of the Murids, a Sufi brotherhood, has tried to reinforce the relations between its members, which become fragile during migration. The brotherhood occupies a public space in Harlem, and, to a lesser extent, in Paris, in a spectacularization of religious belonging, in order to remain attractive to migrants. The second example deals with the pilgrimage dedicated to African Saints in the Swiss town of Saint Maurice. This event was invented by the missionary service of the Swiss Catholic Church in order to attract African migrants, but also in order to make ordinary religious practice more appealing. The event takes place at the same time as the Ugandan pilgrimage of Namugongo, which assembles more than half a million people. However, are these ‘event communities’ sustainable or ephemeral?

Vielfalt/Diversity/Diversité

Zusammenfassung Monika Salzbrunn: Vielfalt/Diversity/Diversité.

Performing Gender and Religion: The Veil's Impact on Boundary-Making Processes in France

This article examines how political discourses produce effects of exclusion by putting into question the legitimate belonging of a group of people, namely French Muslim women wearing a burqa, to French public space and more generally to “the national community.” In it, I will provide examples for the way feminist arguments are used by different actors in order to keep these women de facto in an excluded and subordinate position, for the semantics women give to their clothing and for the women’s own interpretation of feminist values.1 In a past period shaped by structuralist thinking and Marxist ideas, immigrant groups in France were perceived as being part of the working class, and research focused on them in these categories.2 Immigrant women—when their presence was noticed at all—were mostly seen as the spouses of workers that had come to Europe starting in the early 1960s. Despite the fact that most of the women began working once they received a residence permit, they were placed in the statistical category of “family unification” because their initial visas had been granted

Beyond Assimilation: Shifting Boundaries of Belonging in France

The history of France’s immigration policy goes back to the late eighteenth century, when industrialisation began in the context of early demographic decline. Since then, it has hesitated between a policy of settlement and a policy of recruiting labourers. The shortage of workers and future soldiers in the second part of the nineteenth century led to the call for foreign workers. The intention was ‘to make French from foreigners’ in spite of public debates, which were focussed on the risks of immigration for French identity. Issues of immigration were treated in a rather pragmatic manner, without any coherent policy, and were led in a very concrete way by employers and civil-society organisations. In 1974, a turning point appeared when France decided to stop the recruitment of salaried labourers. This decision, initially provisional, stopped the movement of foreigners between France and their countries of origin and defined a policy of integration. In the 1980s, a strong politicisation of immigration and integration then took place.

The Economies of Urban Diversity: An Introduction

As European Capitals of Culture in 2010 and metropolitan areas of immigration and transmigration, both Istanbul and the Ruhr Area (Essen was designated as European Capital of Culture on behalf of the Ruhr Area) share a complex cultural and social history. Strong human, political, and economic ties have long linked the European Capital of Culture of Turkey to Germany’s main immigration region, which is about to become a new cultural center thanks to the recognition of its industrial heritage by UNESCO (Zeche Zollverein in Essen).1 Even though the cultural history of each region is different, a crisscross reading of ‘parallel lives’ between the two countries helps to understand better the use and the potential of urban diversity over time.

Börse, Forum, Laufsteg: ‚Religiöse‘ Feste als Hybride

Gibt es ‚religiose‘ Ereignisse? Oder sind nicht alle Zusammenkunfte, die anlasslich religioser Praktiken organisiert werden, per se hybrid? Die Suche nach Gemeinschaft und der Bedarf nach Spiritualitat sind nicht die einzigen Beweggrunde zur Teilnahme: ein historischer Blick auf religios definierte Gemeinschaften zeigt, dass viele klare marktwirtschaftliche Ziele verfolgen und gleichzeitig als Kontaktborse fur den Zugang zu politischer Macht fungieren.

Translocal Martyrdom: Community-Making Through African Pilgrimages in Switzerland

A new form of translocal martyrdom was (re)invented in the context of African migration to Switzerland a decade ago: The ‘Pelerinage aux Saintes et Saints d’Afrique’ at St. Maurice and the pilgrimage dedicated to the (Black) Virgin Mary in Einsiedeln. Under the patronage of the federal Catholic ‘Swiss Bishops Conference’ (SBC) several annual events are organised by clerics, missionaries and non-clerics to incorporate African residents in the institutional setting of the Catholic Church. These events are designed to attract Africans but also to revitalise Catholic faith and practice. In this context, African martyrdom is becoming a metaphor for suffering in crisis, escape and migration.

The Concept of Diversity in Migration and Urban Studies

The marketing of diversity in urban contexts results from two recent phenomena. First, the positive view taken of cosmopolitan and diverse urban environments (by city governments, by tourists, and by investors), and, second, the empowerment of minorities who put their religious, ethnic, and gendered expressions of (multiple) belonging on stage. In the following chapter, I give an overview of the concept of diversity in different scientific communities, starting from the first uses of the term 30 years ago in the United States. Recently, the German Sociological Association (GSA) organized its annual conference around the theme “Diversity and Cohesion: Challenges of a New Societal Complexity.”2