Second generation muslims in Madrid: hybrid identities, experiencies of discrimination and rights expectations

In recent decades, the growth of immigrant communities in Europe has prompted controversial political and discursive contexts. Due to a combination of factors, real or imagined boundaries between the majority group population and minority migrant groups have brought about or affected policy measures aimed at managing immigration and integration, as well as have fueled debate regarding the legitimacy of these migrant groups. In particular, European political, social and even academic rhetoric has often framed Muslims as ‘the other,’ both in terms of migrant background, and in juxtaposition with Europe’s historic Christian tradition and today’s mainstream secularism. Muslim youth face discrimination in their European communities of residence that militates against a sense of belonging, compounding the disadvantages that children of migrant parents otherwise face. Second generation Muslims negotiate pluralist realities and multiple attachments, and express complex identities. As citizens, they are entitled to comprehensive inclusion, and their rights and opportunities should be equal to that of peers with native-born parents. In reality, they can grapple with social or institutional discrimination and xenophobia...