Introduction: methods in the study of ‘non-organized’ Muslim minorities

Abstract

Research on Islam and Muslim minorities in Europe has generally<br/>been focused on the active representatives of these groups, in the form<br/>of research on the development of movements and organizations, their<br/>legal and political status, activities and relations with the wider<br/>political contexts both at home, in the countries of origin and in the<br/>Muslim world at large. On the other hand, social sciences research<br/>on Muslims and Islam has tended to be focused on Muslims as ethnic<br/>minority groups linked into the broader fields of race relations and<br/>migration research. Since the 1980s researchers in the fields of race<br/>relations and migration have increasingly mobilized ‘Muslims’ and<br/>‘Islam’ as a common denominator. Initially, among social scientists the<br/>motivation seems often to have been the necessity of refining larger<br/>unmanageable ethnic groupings.