The Jacobs Summer Research Group is a cooperative initiative of the Jacobs Foundation and the Center for Religion, Economy and Politics (ZRWP) and is a funding instrument for junior scholars. Since July 15, 2008, four fellows have been working on the topic ‘Youth – Religion – Migration’ and will do so for one year, in order to expand their previous research by working in an interdisciplinary setting. In the summer of 2008 and the spring of 2009 they will meet in two six-week seminars in Zurich, where they will evaluate the results of their qualitative research and develop joint topics. They are supported by the senior advisor of the JSRG, Professor Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Graf from Munich, and by Professor Dr. Reiner Anselm of Zurich. The coordinator of the JSRG is Dr. Stephan Schleissing.
The fellows’ (who are located in Switzerland and Germany) qualitative studies tackle the complex relationships between youth, religion and migration. In this research context, adolescence is viewed as a phase of life, in which certain developments and decisional demands in contemporary societies must be dealt with. Young people are regarded as actors, who actively shape their social environment and culture through their relationships with peers and adults. The JSRG fellows are particularly interested in the processes of religious identity or attribution in this phase of life. In doing so, a wide spectrum of religious contexts in Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism are taken into account. What young women and men understand under ‘religion’ or ‘religiosity’ is the central topic of these projects that seek access to adolescence through various means. For example, the question of how religion or religiosity is passed from generation to generation, lived, and changed is brought into focus.
A central concept of the analyses is the term ‘multiple natio-ethno-cultural belongingness’ (Mercheril 2001), which refers to the fact that the interviewee must deal with diverse reference points due to his/her parents’ migration to Switzerland or Germany. Particularly interesting is how the resulting ambivalences with respect to religious belonging as well as to gender identity and socioeconomic background are broached.
The details of the projects can be found in the following project descriptions (in German):
The JRSG fellows receive a scholarship, which covers their accommodation expenses in Zurich, travel expenses, and the employment of research assistants. The results of their research will be presented on May 27 to 28, 2009, at a symposium in Collegium Helveticum, in a series of lectures at the University of Zurich, and in selected publications. Furthermore, the fellows will discuss their research results at a summer school that will take place on June 20 to 27, 2009, at the Centro Magliaso together with the Schweizerische Studienstiftung.
Contact:
ZRWP, Universität Zürich, Scheuchzerstr. 21, CH-8006 Zürich
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