ABSTRACT

Transnational relations can play an important role in young people’s identity negotiations and transitions to adulthood. In this article, we explore how young British-born Muslims construct and contest their religious identities and experience their changing religious identities from their lateteens until their early-twenties. We analyse how places beyond the UK shape their religious beliefs and identities in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England, and present a methodological tool to understand young people’s complex and changing (religious) identities and spatialities. We draw on in-depth interviews – including map-making methods – with a small number of young Muslims living in Newcastle upon Tyne whose parents migrated from Pakistan or Bangladesh. This article contributes to youth geographies, by illustrating that when the participants begin to negotiate ‘being Muslim’ more independently, the spatial orientation of their religious identities starts to change as well. We show that the changing meaning and importance of the places beyond the UK should be understood in relation to other spatial notions when explaining religious identity negotiations of young people. Moreover, the paper provides a methodological contribution in demonstrating how map-making can help to examine young people’s identities and changing relationships to places in a transnational context.

摘要

跨国关系可以在年轻人的身份谈判和向成年过渡中发挥重要作用。在本文中，我们探讨了英国出生的年轻穆斯林如何构建和质疑他们的宗教身份，并经历他们从十几岁到二十岁出头的宗教身份变化。我们分析了英国以外的地方如何塑造英格兰东北部泰恩河畔纽卡斯尔的宗教信仰和身份，并提出了一种方法论工具来理解年轻人复杂且不断变化的（宗教）身份和空间。我们对居住在泰恩河畔纽卡斯尔的少数年轻穆斯林进行了深入访谈（包括地图制作方法），他们的父母来自巴基斯坦或孟加拉国。这篇文章为青年地理做出了贡献，通过说明，当参与者开始更独立地协商“成为穆斯林”时，他们的宗教身份的空间取向也开始发生变化。我们表明，在解释年轻人的宗教身份谈判时，应结合其他空间概念来理解英国以外地区不断变化的意义和重要性。此外，本文在方法论上做出了贡献，展示了地图制作如何帮助检查年轻人的身份并改变跨国背景下与地点的关系。我们表明，在解释年轻人的宗教身份谈判时，应结合其他空间概念来理解英国以外地区不断变化的意义和重要性。此外，本文在方法论上做出了贡献，展示了地图制作如何帮助检查年轻人的身份并改变跨国背景下与地点的关系。我们表明，在解释年轻人的宗教身份谈判时，应结合其他空间概念来理解英国以外地区不断变化的意义和重要性。此外，本文在方法论上做出了贡献，展示了地图制作如何帮助检查年轻人的身份并改变跨国背景下与地方的关系。