Is it going to be an Islamised Europe or Europeanised Islam? This is a question, a final
ultimatum, almost apocalyptic, posed by commentators on Right-wing populism (RWP)
across both sides of the Atlantic. RWP has stimulated profound structural shifts in
European politics. What isn’t disputed is that at its embryonic phase, this particular
socio-political phenomenon was responding to everyday voices at the microsocial level.
For the most part, academia has however focused on the macrosocial level. Regards the
Muslims – a key target of RWP ideology – their voices in response are absent in the
current literature. I therefore asked: has RWP affected Muslim identity? If so, why and
how has this occurred?
This thesis applies an interpretative sociological approach and qualitative methodology
to conduct fieldwork in three European cities: Malmo, Copenhagen and Edinburgh. The
data constituting the empirical basis of the study is from a subset of 28 participants
(second-generation and converts) from a total 45 who participated. The data was
subjected to narrative analysis to identify the main factors influencing the participants’
responses to RWP.
Although the participants’ exhibited a range of ‘social creative responses’, these were in
response to stigmatisation primarily. The data showed no ‘reactive’ Muslim identity
emerging as a response to RWP. The participants perceived other factors as having a far
greater impact on their everyday lives than RWP activism. Two main factors emerged:
(segregation and second-class citizenship) influencing the production of Muslim
identities. Malmo and Copenhagen, characterised by ethno-cultural segregation created
more obstacles impeding equal citizenship by comparison to Edinburgh, where a small
dispersed Muslim community benefitted from a civic nationalism and aspirational
pluralism
