Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides various aspects of second-generation Muslim life in the US and Europe. It examines the position of second-generation Muslims in various receiving societies, each of which has a distinct history of immigrant integration as well as a different and particular relationship with Islam. The book addresses the issue of societal membership among Muslim youth in the US and the Netherlands. It deals with the role that educational institutions play in the lives of the young second generation. The book argues that Islamic schools help facilitate the participation of Muslims in mainstream institutions by equipping them with the cultural capital needed to navigate in non-Muslim arenas. It also deals with some of the ways in which second-generation Muslims attempt to reconstruct their identities either along racial lines or through shifting boundaries.