Understanding young people’s experiences of schooling requires educational researchers to examine how they make sense of themselves and the world around them. This paper investigates portrayals of Muslim youth in Britain and Germany, and how young Muslims themselves respond to them. How do the young people feel about these depictions and in what way does it shape their understanding of ‘self’? How do they negotiate their identities in the light of often negative representations by the non-Muslim majority?

Social changes following the Second World War due to mass immigration, centralisation of political and economic power within Europe beyond national boundaries, as well as globalisation are increasingly challenging notions of fixed collective identities based on constructions of shared history, territory and ethnicity. As part of this study, I investigate how two countries - Britain and Germany - with different histories, immigration, integration and educational policies have dealt with the mass immigration post-1945, and how this corresponds to outcomes today. This is particularly relevant at a time when ideas of a common European identity gain significance on the one hand, while islamophobia remains an arguably growing phenomenon. Media, political and public discourses around integration, community cohesion, radical Islam and citizenship are predicated upon ideas about the ‘nation’, how ethnic minorities are positioned in relation to it, and who is or is not included in mainstream ‘society’. How might being confronted with discourses that problematise Islam influence young Muslims’ identities and their social location?

I am working with young Muslims whose parents or grandparents emigrated to Britain and Germany respectively. Participants are largely of Pakistani descent in case of the British sample and of Turkish or Lebanese descent in the German sample. These groups are generally thought of as disenfranchised by researchers: They are often depicted as socially excluded and economically disadvantaged, as ‘underachieving’ educationally and experiencing disproportionate levels of unemployment. Sections of the media and some politicians, however, depict young people from these communities as disengaged from society, living ‘parallel lives’ and contributing to social problems such as violent crime. While young males are thought of as at risk of ‘radicalisation’, young women are often portrayed as passive and oppressed.

This study looks at how contemporary media and political debates in Britain and Germany depict Muslims and Muslim youth in particular. It is explored how participants negotiate these discourses and position themselves in relationship to them. In addition, their self-representations and understandings of their own cultural identities are focused on. It is moreover of interest in how far their negotiation of prevalent portrayals might impact on their experiences of education and schooling. These research aims are sought to be addressed within a theoretical and methodological framework that draws on cultural, media and political studies, as well as on critical ethnography, sociology, history, documentary and discourse analysis.

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