Muslims and the public sphere. transformations in the 21st century spain

Abstract

Based on a selection of recent academic publications, this article analyzes the current situation of Muslim populations within the Spanish state in order to reflect on the ways in which Islam has been developing in the Spanish pub-lic sphere(s) during this last decade. The increase in the number of Spanish Muslim citizens, the higher visibility and diversity of certain expressions of Muslim identities in ur-ban space as well as their participation in social, economic or political activities have contributed to transformations in, and the creation of, multiple public spheres. However, said contributions frequently face various practices such as the invisibilization or foreignization of Muslim populations, es-pecially of women and youngsters, or even the criminali-zation of certain religious practices. These discriminatory mechanisms all play a part in the silencing of potential new social and political actors, which leads to raise questions about the role of public institutions.