Negotiating Muslim identity and diversity in Greek urban spaces

Abstract

Based on a recent study of indigenous and migrant Muslims in Greece, this article provides an exploration of the spatial expressions of religious identity and practice among indigenous and migrant Muslims in Athens. Through a detailed analysis of ethnographic and visual material, we investigate the ways in which Muslim communities negotiate their religious identities and belonging in a city where there is no official mosque, considering that exclusionary perceptions of Islam constitute an important element of Greek national identity. The discussion concentrates on the management of visibility of Muslim identity through public displays of religious practices. Finally, we explore the ongoing debates surrounding the building of a Central Mosque in Athens as a symbolic claim to acceptance and recognition of Muslim presence and religious diversity in the Greek capital.

Geographies of Islamophobia

“…Inherent in the spatialization of Islamophobia is an important relationship between visibility and invisibility: on the one hand, signs of Muslim piety, such as mosques, veils, and beards are often visible in public space in Muslim-minority contexts (Göle et al, 2011;Hatziprokopiou & Evergeti, 2014). Islamophobic perpetrators have attacked Muslim women and men or buildings associated with Islam based on this visibility (Hopkins & Gale, 2009;Jonker & Amiraux, 2006;Teeple Hopkins, 2015).…”

Neighbourliness, conviviality, and the sacred in Athens’ refugee squats

“…For migrants looking to reach Northern and Western Europe these neighbourhoods, along with Omonia and Viktoria Square, have become important staging posts where community organisations, NGOs and solidarity initiatives signposting and providing material support to recent arrivals can be found. The number of masājid in Athens is estimated to be in excess of 100 and are often restricted to nondescript shop front conversions or can be found in the basement of apartment buildings (Triandafyllidou and Gropas, 2009;Hatziprokopiou and Evergeti, 2014). The masājid are largely financed through donations and managed by migrants from single ethnicity groups.…”

Moral Mobility

“…Moreover, one must be culturally aware of how to situate words and behavior. Historically, the construction of Greek national identity was based in opposition to the “Muslim other” of the Ottoman Empire (Hatziprokopiou and Evergeti 2014, 605). Still, in the struggle with the Troika, 4 many Greeks would criticize the EU’s colonizing attitudes toward Greece, evident through its neoliberal projects.…”

“… 3. Some attempted gatherings to emphasize modern way of practicing Islam (Hatziprokopiou and Evergeti 2014) or on university grounds where police were the police could not enter. …”