IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nor/wpaper/2013004.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

God Can Wait – New migrants in Germany between early adaptation and religious re-organisation

Author

Listed:
  • Claudi Diehl

    (University of Göttingen)

  • Matthias Koenig

    (University of Göttingen)

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse migration-related changes in religiosity among new Polish and Turkish migrants in Germany by using novel data from an international survey project on Socio-Cultural Integration Processes of New Immigrants in Europe (SCIP). The study confirms, first of all, that both groups of newcomers experience a decrease in religious practices after the migratory event. This decrease is more pronounced among Muslim Turks than among Catholic Poles and more pertinent for worship attendance than for prayer. Secondly, we show that among new Polish immigrants, religious decrease is more pronounced among individuals with stronger social ties to the secular German mainstream; moreover, there are no signs that religious practices are being re-captured after the rather disruptive first couple of months. For Turks, however, our study shows that initial religious decrease is followed by a process of religious re-organisation that is independent from assimilation in other social spheres. We discuss the role of “bright” symbolic boundaries against Islam in Germany that may play a role in explaining these group specific patterns and conclude that publicly visible religious diversity may well remain a permanent feature of modern immigrant societies.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudi Diehl & Matthias Koenig, 2013. "God Can Wait – New migrants in Germany between early adaptation and religious re-organisation," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013004, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.norface-migration.org/publ_uploads/NDP_04_13.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alberto Bisin & Eleonora Patacchini & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2008. "Are Muslim Immigrants Different in Terms of Cultural Integration?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(2-3), pages 445-456, 04-05.
    2. Aristide R. Zolberg & Long Litt Woon, 1999. "Why Islam is like Spanish: Cultural Incorporation in Europe and the United States," Politics & Society, , vol. 27(1), pages 5-38, March.
    3. Aleksynska, Mariya & Algan, Yann, 2010. "Assimilation and Integration of Immigrants in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 5185, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Pippa Norris & Ronald F. Inglehart, 2012. "Muslim Integration into Western Cultures: Between Origins and Destinations," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 60(2), pages 228-251, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prummer, Anja & Siedlarek, Jan-Peter, 2014. "Institutions And The Preservation Of Cultural Traits," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 470, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    2. Giovanis, Eleftherios & Akdede, Sacit Hadi, 2023. "Cultural Integration of First-Generation Immigrants: Evidence from European Union Countries," MPRA Paper 117259, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sari Pekkala Kerr & William R. Kerr, 2011. "Economic Impacts of Immigration: A Survey," Finnish Economic Papers, Finnish Economic Association, vol. 24(1), pages 1-32, Spring.
    4. Tausch, Arno, 2018. "The return of religious Antisemitism? The evidence from World Values Survey data," MPRA Paper 90093, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Ayse Guveli & Lucinda Platt, 2023. "Religiosity of Migrants and Natives in Western Europe 2002–2018: Convergence and Divergence," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-27, December.
    6. Bisin, Alberto & Verdier, Thierry, 2017. "Inequality, redistribution and cultural integration in the Welfare State," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 122-140.
    7. Platt, Lucinda & Polavieja, Javier & Radl, Jonas, 2022. "Which integration policies work? The heterogeneous impact of national institutions on immigrants’ labor market attainment in Europe," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110955, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Gordon B Dahl & Christina Felfe & Paul Frijters & Helmut Rainer, 2022. "Caught between Cultures: Unintended Consequences of Improving Opportunity for Immigrant Girls," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2491-2528.
    9. Prummer, Anja & Siedlarek, Jan-Peter, 2017. "Community leaders and the preservation of cultural traits," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 143-176.
    10. Tausch, Arno, 2016. "Occidentalism, terrorism, and the Shari’a state: new multivariate perspectives on Islamism based on international survey data," MPRA Paper 69498, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Bisin, Alberto & Patacchini, Eleonora & Verdier, Thierry & Zenou, Yves, 2016. "Bend it like Beckham: Ethnic identity and integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 146-164.
    12. Sagit Bar-Gill & Chaim Fershtman, 2016. "Integration policy: Cultural transmission with endogenous fertility," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 105-133, January.
    13. Ahmed Elsayed & Andries Grip, 2018. "Terrorism and the integration of Muslim immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 45-67, January.
    14. Amelie F. Constant & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2008. "Measuring Ethnic Identity and its Impact on Economic Behavior," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(2-3), pages 424-433, 04-05.
    15. Alberto Bisin & Eleonora Patacchini & Thierry Verdier & Yves Zenou, 2011. "Ethnic identity and labour market outcomes of immigrants in Europe [Assessing the oppositional culture explanation for racial/ethnic differences in school performance]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 57-92.
    16. Alessandra Colombelli & Elena Grinza & Valentina Meliciani & Mariacristina Rossi, 2021. "Pulling Effects in Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Does Gender Matter?," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 97(1), pages 1-33, January.
    17. Aristide R. Zolberg, 2004. "The Democratic Management of Cultural Differences: Building inclusive societies in Western Europe and North America," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-2004-17, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    18. Alexander M. Danzer & Firat Yaman, 2013. "Do Ethnic Enclaves Impede Immigrants' Integration? Evidence from a Quasi-experimental Social-interaction Approach," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 311-325, May.
    19. Lee, Taehoon & Peri, Giovanni & Viarengo, Martina, 2022. "The gender aspect of migrants’ assimilation in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    20. Christina Gathmann & Nicolas Keller, 2014. "Returns to Citizenship?: Evidence from Germany's Recent Immigration Reforms," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 656, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nor:wpaper:2013004. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Norface Migration Administrator or Thomas Cornelissen (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cmucluk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.