My dissertation examines mosque communities in Germany as specific spaces of (post-)migrant identity negotiations due to there migrant emergence. In these spaces, identity discourses intensify in multilayered and complex fields, which are constituted through ambivalent expectations from inner (community) and outer (society) sphere. Within these dynamics, mosques transformed into multifunctional centres of religious, cultural and social life for Muslim people. Their relevance unfolds both through physical and transnational spatiality - they are simultaneously spaces of the sacred and profane, spaces of negotiation between generations and genders as well as spaces of sphere differences.
The establishment of mosques began with the first generation of migrant workers that came to Germany in the 1960s. Through genealogical transmission, these communities are attended by their children and grandchildren. Thus, three different types of socialization collide through these three generations. The relationship between them is reflected upon and lived out, actively referencing a cultural heritage that is present in a conjunctive experiential space. Retrospective reflections and prospective visions of belonging and identity alternate in an ambivalent oscillation. Furthermore, the context of a post-migrant and post-modern society leads to an increase in contingency.
Combined with internal generational conflicts, cultural and religious tensions arise in the communities, which either lead to transformative forces or a stagnation in ambivalence. In my contribution, empirical results based on qualitative-reconstructive research designs (problem-centred interviews and documentary method evaluation) will be discussed in detail, so that conclusions can be drawn concerning internal and external influencing factors of transformations regarding post-migrant mosque communities in Germany.