German Muslims and their engagement in participatory culture: reflections on civic and artistic contributions to the public sphere

Abstract

This paper examines publics of young German Muslims. Case studies include the singer Huelya Kandemir, the theatre group Uma Lamo and the social network Zahnräder. By focusing on spiritual music publics, theatrical comedy publics and social publics, it tries a new approach to the way in which we understand minority public engagement. In addition to examining the concept of counterpublics, it utilizes the concept of participatory culture, which offers a relevant complement. The study argues that the publics of young German Muslims display multifaceted artistic and civic engagement, which can best be understood in terms of participation in cultural or civic productions and contribution to the wider German public. Features or effects of counterpublics, such as the countering of mainstream representations of minority identities and the offering of alternative discourses, are occasionally reflected in their activities.

(Dis)Engagement with queer counterpublics: Exploring intimate and family lives in online and offline spaces in China

“…These remarks highlight that cyberspace, on which the state tends to keep a relatively looser grip than on physical spaces despite tightening Internet censorship (Bao, 2020; Liao, 2019), was perceived to be a comparatively freer platform for the concerns and needs of lalas to be heard and advocacy of their rights to be publicized, at least among Internet users. They demonstrate that the key feature of counterpublics, which allow socially marginalized individuals to generate and circulate counter‐discourses (Soliman, 2017), can be realized in Chinese cyberspace.…”

“…In short, the features of counterpublics are reflected in lalas' engagement in cyberspace in the sense that lalas involved in cyberspace may attempt to overcome social exclusion and explore non-traditional paths to family formation and motherhood. Meanwhile, it is also worth noticing the internal heterogeneity within these counterpublics (Soliman, 2017). For instance, only women with relatively more material and social resources might try to pursue motherhood and thus engage in the online community of lala mothers.…”

“…The notion of counterpublics has been widely adopted in studies of sexuality, gender, ethnicity, religion, and other forms of difference (Breese, 2011; Soliman, 2017). In particular, in developing a typology for describing the variety of public spheres, Breese (2011) plots the counterpublics formed by various LGBTQ groups along a continuum between political and civic in orientation.…”