Islamic Nurture and Identity Management: the Lifeworld of Muslim Children and Young People in Norway

Abstract

The focus of this chapter will be on the role of Islam in the lives of Norwegian Pakistani children and young people, with regard to identity management in a secular and plural context. The discussion will, however, incorporate a discussion of education and socialisation and thereby also be related to the role of religious education as a part of secular schooling. In 2005 the immigrant population in Norway numbered 364,981, i.e. 8% of the total population (Statistics Norway, 2005). The Pakistanis formed the largest group within the immigrant population: 26,950 (of which 15,154 were first-generation immigrants, while 11,796 were persons born in Norway of Pakistani parents). The Pakistani immigration to Norway started at the end of the 1960s and was a typical labour seeking chain immigration, similar in character to that of the immigration of Pakistanis to Britain (Anwar, 1996). The first empirical research on which this chapter is based was conducted from 1994 to 1998 (Ostberg, 2003a). The second research was a follow-up study of the first and was conducted from 1999 to 2002 (Ostberg, 2003b; 2003c). Five Pakistani families in Oslo with varied socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds were followed closely throughout a ten year period. Participant observation and formal and informal interviews were the key methods used. The sample consisted of sixteen children and young people within these five families, supplemented by more children, young people and grown-ups who were part of their life-worlds at school, in the mosques and at leisure activities. The next section will clarify the concept of secular context by relating it to a discussion of plurality and deconstruction.