Immigration and religion in the Netherlands: A dynamic approach to religion in a multi-ethnic society

Large-scale flows of immigration transform the Netherlands into an ethnically and religiously diverse society. How do immigrants and their children experience and practice their religion in the Dutch society? In answering this question, we come up with three contributions. First, we investigate religious change of immigrants and their children. Previous studies often adopted a static approach to religion, and were unable to see how peoples religious identities, attachments and practices change over time. Second, we improve upon earlier research by studying the dynamics of religious change. We study how religious practices develop in response to co-ethnic and interethnic interactions in diverse contexts like schools, neighbourhoods and the workplace. And we examine how religion affects the participation in such social contexts. Furthermore, we study dynamically whether religion and perceptions of discrimination and exclusion mutually affect each other. Third, we take an international comparative perspective. Earlier studies have focused mainly on single countries, whereas in this project we compare the dynamics of religious change in the Netherlands to that of other countries. We make use of two new and unique longitudinal panel studies that contain detailed questions on religion. SCIP is gathered among recently arrived immigrants, who are interviewed repeatedly and followed over a period of five years. Uniquely, similar SCIP panel studies were conducted in the Netherlands and Germany. The survey CILS4EU follows 5,000 adolescents over a 6-year period. The survey includes around 2,000 immigrant children from various origins, and was conducted in the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and England. Dit project wordt uitgevoerd in samenwerking met Trouw.