Abstract

In the southern German city of Stuttgart lives a pious Muslim population that has merged with the local population to create a meaningful shared existence. In this ethnographic account, the author introduces and examines the lives of ordinary residents, neighborhoods, and mosque communities to analyze moments and spaces where Muslims and non-Muslims engage with each other and accommodate their respective needs. These accounts show that even in the face of resentment and discrimination, this pious population has indeed become an integral part of the urban community.

Petra Kuppinger is Professor of Anthropology at Monmouth College and President of the Society of Urban National and Transnational Anthropology (2014–16). Recent publications include “Flexible Topographies: Muslim Spaces in a German Cityscape,” Social and Cultural Geography (2014) and “Crushed? Cairo’s Garbage Collectors and Neoliberal Urban Politics,” Journal of Urban Affairs (2014).

“One of the great strengths of Kuppinger’s book is her capacity, through deeply detailed storytelling, to ground dominant—and often borderless—debates over Islam’s questioned belonging to Europe. She counters the ambiguities of such debates with the clear, quotidian negotiations of the Muslim city-dweller, her/himself…By the end of the book, the reader is attuned to the shared experiences of Muslim and non-Muslim urban inhabitants. Kuppinger has effectively undermined taken-for-granted assumptions about the difference and distinctiveness of Muslims in contemporary Germany through detailed accounts of their everyday lives. This is a remarkable feat, replacing projections of otherness with understandings of the shared experiences that accompany cultural particularities.” • Reading Religion

“Through remarkably careful and rich ethnography, the author shows how Muslims are part and parcel of urban life in Stuttgart, and how they transform the city and are transformed by the urban life there.” • Esra Özyürek, London School of Economics

“The author successfully presents an approach that differs from most studies on Muslims in Germany or Western Europe and is certainly providing an important contribution to the study of Islam in Europe in general and to the urban Muslim presence in particular.” • Riem Spielhaus, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg