Integrating Muslim immigrant women in the United States and the Netherlands: Effects of religiosity and migrant religious institutions

This project examines the impact of religiosity and religious organizations on the cultural and civic integration processes of Muslim immigrant women in non-Muslim host societies. Using a multi-method research design consisting of original survey data and qualitative interviews with women congregants, religious leaders of the Muslim immigrant community and the directors of migrant Muslim women's associations, I address two central questions: At the micro level, I ask if identifying as 'Muslim' or having strong religious beliefs slows down the cultural and political integration of first and second-generation Muslim immigrant women. At the macro level, I investigate whether migrant Islamic institutions---mosques and Muslim women associations---act as bridge builders or boundary markers between the Muslim communities and their respective host societies, and how different styles of religious leadership encourage or discourage the cultural adaptation, and civic and political participation of their female congregants. My findings indicate that the effects of religiosity and religious institutions on Muslim women's integration outcomes are not uniform, but rather vary across integration domains and across the two social and political contexts. Muslim women both in the United States and in the Netherlands show great diversity in the ways in which they understand and practice Islam, and utilize Islamic resources in their integration and acculturation processes. They negotiate their religious identities in innovative and rather counter-intuitive ways to promote integration.