"At a time when many Europeans believe “Islamic” and “European” values are contradictory, an unprecedented number of Germans convert to Islam every year. In my research I follow the stories of different cohorts of Germans who converted to Islam over the last hundred years. It asks what kinds of Germans have encountered Islam in each epoch of German history and which interpretations of Islam they have embraced. It pays special attention to today’s close to 100,000 converts who experience the challenge of choosing Islam in a climate of Islamophobia. How do converts come to terms with their admiration for Islam and the commonplace marginalization of Muslims? Do converts build what can be termed an “ethnic German Islam” that is different from “immigrant Islam”? And finally, how does the increasing number of ethnically German Muslims shape debates about the relationship between race, religion, and belonging in Germany?"
Esra Özyürek will give the Keynote Address at the Sandrizona conference in Linguistic Anthropology on February 16, at 5:00 in the Vista room of the Hillel Building titled Being German, Becoming Muslim: Religious Conversion, Islamophobia, and Belonging in Germany.
