Abstract
Based on inter views with young persons in two national Muslim youth organizations in Europe, this article examines how young Muslims negotiate between the cultural customs of their societies of origin, their everyday experiences in Europe, and the global Muslim public sphere. In seeking a universal “true” core of Islam, these young persons create their own version of Islam, a “fourth space” in which they reinterpret the authoritative source texts of Islam in light of personal diasporic experiences in Europe. This reinterpretation becomes particularly pertinent in the context of planning for future marriage, where they joint ly construct new understandings of Islam to argue for inter-ethnic marriages and later age at marriage, to argue against coercion in arranged marriages, to oppose polyg yny and to portray the stigmatization of divorce as counter to the true spirit of Islam.
Keywords
Islamic revival, youth, marriage, Italy, Sweden
How to Cite
Minganti, P. K., (2016) “INTRODUCING “FOURTH SPACE””, Ethnologia Europaea 46(1), 40-57. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.1176
Publisher Notes
- This article was previously published by Museum Tusculanum Press.