To Be 'Danish', Becoming 'Muslim

Contestations of National Identity

Bibliographic Data

ID3637486
AuthorsT G Jensen (0000-0001-8968-9569, Schlumberger (Ireland), corresponding author)
Year2008
Volume34
Issue3
Pages389-409
Publication date2008-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueNew Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-9586 • E-ISSN: 1469-9451
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691830701880210
OpenAlexW1991084427
LanguageEN
Citations received47
References cited29

This article discusses the relationship between national, ethnic and religious identities as embodied by so-called ethnic Danes who convert to Islam. The point of departure is the constructed polarisation between Islam and the West. The article explores how converts experience their apparently contradictory identities as ‘Danish’ and ‘Muslim’. Identity is dealt with as processes of both difference and similarity, whereby the constructions of ‘self’ as ‘same’ and ‘other’ as ‘different’ are questioned. In exploring the space between ‘self’ and ‘other’ among Danish converts, it is argued that they negotiate their identities as both Danish and Muslims by engaging in an ideological struggle over otherwise commonsense meanings. This process opens a space for re-making identity by connecting relations between these identities, which are otherwise perceived as having nothing in common

Aesthetics · Danish · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Identity negotiation · Ideology · Islam · National Identities · National identity · Negotiation · Nothing · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Diaspora, migration, transnational identity · Gender Studies · History · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Religion and Society Interactions

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