Multireligious Cooperation and the Integration of Muslim Migrants in Sweden

Abstract

In recent years, as the number of migrants arriving in Europe has grown, faith-based organizations have become intimately involved in assisting migrants’ short- and long-term integration. This article describes an innovative cooperative project between minority (mosque) and majority (church) religious institutions designed to enhance integration between Muslim migrants and their predominantly Christian host community. Using survey and interview data, this study finds that participants reported enhanced feelings of welcoming, larger networks of friends and acquaintances, and more engagement in activities after participating in the project.

How Does the Sense of Closeness to God Affect Attitudes toward Refugees in Turkey? Multiculturalism and Social Contact as Mediators and National Belonging as Moderator

“…Therefore, a spiritual view rather than believing in the same religion may be effective in the behavior towards out-groups in Turkish society. As a result, it is expected that spirituality, as a coping mechanism, may have an essential role in political and interpersonal interactions with refugees so that mutual acceptance and integration can be easier (Yang and Fry 2018;Kocak et al 2021;Lyck-Bowen 2020).…”

Untitled

“…The study is narrowly focused on young adult migrants living in Sweden and it is relevant to a multidimensional social resilience project that is an initiative of Lund University's 2030 agenda on research on social sustainability. Recent migrant studies conducted in Sweden cover a wide range of migrant-related issues, such as parenting practices (Wissö & Bäck-Wiklund, 2021;Baghdasaryan et al, 2021), housing (Stepanova & Romanov, 2021), education and work (Ahlgren & Rydell, 2020;Carlbaum, 2021;Messina Dahlberg et al, 2021), and integration (Eliassi, 2017;Lyck-Bowen, 2020). Though these studies cover a wide range of social issues relevant to migrants' lives in host countries, the choices of methods are limited to qualitative interviews and focus group discussions.…”