Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- 1 Introduction
- Part One Laying foundations: national and local elections
- 2 Muslim political participation in Belgium: an exceptional political representation in Europe
- 3 Muslim political participation in Germany: a structurationist approach
- 4 Political opinions and participation among young Muslims in Sweden: a case study
- 5 Lithuanian Muslims' attitudes toward participation in the democratic political process: the case of converts
- 6 Political participation of European Muslims in France and the United Kingdom
- Part Two Participation as integration
- Part Three Institutions as gateways
- Part Four Breaking the bounds
- Notes on the contributors
- Index
4 - Political opinions and participation among young Muslims in Sweden: a case study
from Part One - Laying foundations: national and local elections
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of tables and figures
- 1 Introduction
- Part One Laying foundations: national and local elections
- 2 Muslim political participation in Belgium: an exceptional political representation in Europe
- 3 Muslim political participation in Germany: a structurationist approach
- 4 Political opinions and participation among young Muslims in Sweden: a case study
- 5 Lithuanian Muslims' attitudes toward participation in the democratic political process: the case of converts
- 6 Political participation of European Muslims in France and the United Kingdom
- Part Two Participation as integration
- Part Three Institutions as gateways
- Part Four Breaking the bounds
- Notes on the contributors
- Index
Summary
In April 2009 Sweden's largest Sunni Muslim youth organisation, Sweden's Young Muslims (SUM), organised their 16th annual youth conference. Based on a survey distributed at the conference, this chapter aims to document and analyse political opinion and political participation among young organised Muslims in Sweden and relate the respondents' answers to the political left and right scale. For this purpose – well aware of competing and alternative definitions – we do not apply an external definition of ‘young’ or ‘Muslim’, but rather assume that those attending a conference for young Muslims see themselves as fitting the bill.
Before we go into the specific survey we would like to offer some more general comments on the composition of Sweden's Muslim population. Like most countries in Europe, the Swedish population has been altered because of international migration (workforce migration, family reunification migration and asylum seekers) and more generally by globalisation processes. Compared to the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, Sweden is today a multicultural and multi-religious society and the Swedish constitution and the state places great stress on freedom of religion and pluralism. For example, when writing this chapter (autumn 2012) the Swedish state supports six Muslim umbrella organisations with economic subsidies, and religious groups are often seen as important interlocutors for the state. However, this recognition does not clash with the fact that the state of Sweden aims at neutrality when it comes to religious affairs.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Muslim Political Participation in Europe , pp. 61 - 82Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2013