Becoming a civil society organisation? dynamics of immigrant religious communities in civil societyand public space

Abstract

The article addresses immigrant religious communities in Western Europe and analyses their place in political and civil society. In the past decades, many immigrant religious communities have succeeded in leaving their initial provisional worship sites and constructed new religious buildings, often prominently visible in the public space of a town or a city. The new visibility established immigrant religious communities as new players in the local religious setting. This new public presence was not always applauded by local residents and politicians, at times, resulting in severe controversies and conflicts. The article discusses whether the new noticeable presence in public life and the often much less noticed multifarious services of the communities may turn the diasporic communities into civil society organisations similar to organisations such as NGOs and charities. What implications arise from such a categorisation and what consequences follow? The article will discuss these issues with regard to the transformation of public space, civil society, citizenship and the state, using case studies from Britain and Switzerland.