Abstract
A number of recent studies have examined the sources of conflict surrounding the presence of Muslim minorities in Western contexts. This article builds upon, and challenges, some of the principal findings of this literature through analyzing popular opposition to mosques in Badalona, a historically industrial city in Catalonia where several of the most vigorous anti-mosque campaigns in Spain have occurred. Drawing upon 46 semi-structured interviews and ethnographic observation conducted over a two-year period, I argue that opposition to mosques in Badalona is not reducible to anti-Muslim prejudice or fears of Islamic extremism. Rather, it is rooted in powerful associations drawn between Islam, immigration, and a series of social problems affecting the character of communal life and the quality of cherished public spaces in the city. These associations are expressed through local narratives that emphasize a sharp rupture between a glorified ethnically homogeneous past of community and solidarity, and a troublesome multicultural present fraught with social insecurity and disintegration. I show how the construction of these “rupture narratives” has entailed active memory work that minimizes the significance of prior social cleavages and conflicts, and selectively focuses on disjuncture over continuity with the past. I also highlight how these narratives have been reinforced by strong socio-spatial divisions, which have intensified contestations over public space and led to the integration of mosque disputes into broader struggles over social justice and public recognition.
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Notes
Mosques in Badalona, like the vast majority of mosques in Europe, are what Allievi (2009) calls “musallas,” or “prayer rooms.” In contrast to purpose-built mosques, which are generally identifiable by their Islamic architecture (i.e., domes and minarets), prayer rooms are typically located in converted apartments, garages, shops, and warehouses.
Much of the existing literature on working-class opposition to minority presence has centered on tensions deriving from the entry of African American migrants into historically white working-class neighborhoods in the US (Bobo 1983; Buell 1980; Drake and Cayton 1945; Greeley 1971; Myrdal 1944; Rieder 1985; Sugrue 1996; Wilson and Taub 2006). A number of recent studies have documented similar dynamics in Britain and other European settings (Alexander 1996; Amin 2002; Back 1996; Keith 1993; Lucassen 2005; Mac an Ghaill 1999).
Kefalas (2003, p. 5) shows how the care that working-class residents of a Chicago neighborhood put into keeping their homes clean, cultivating their gardens, and preserving the quality of their communities is reflective of their “class-bound moral values” and efforts to “fortify moral and symbolic boundaries against social forces that threaten their way of life.”
I thank Margaret Somers for suggesting the term “rupture narrative.”
My use of the term “strategy” here does not imply intention. It speaks, rather, to the strategic effects that selective representations of the past have on the production of ethnic boundaries.
The first instance of opposition to a mosque in Catalonia took place in the city of Vic in 1990 (Moreras 2009). Contention over mosques, however, did not become commonplace until the late 1990s and early 2000s, when immigration to the region rose precipitously.
“Opposition” refers here to organized attempts by local communities to shut down an existing mosque or to prevent the establishment of a new mosque. Documentation of opposition to mosques in Spain was obtained from a review of articles that have been digitized and indexed in the online databases of My News (1995–2012) and WebIslam (1997–2012). These databases include articles from major newspapers and news wires, as well as a wide selection of provincial and local dailies from regions throughout Spain. The broadest of searches was conducted using the keywords “mosque” and “residents.” Information was also collected from the annual reports of SOS Racismo (1995–2010), an NGO dedicated to fighting racism and discrimination. Supplementary searches were conducted of articles indexed directly by the major newspapers ABC, El País, and La Vanguardia, whose electronic archives date back to 1995, 1976, and 1881 respectively.
Ajuntament de Badalona. (2010). Dades estadístiques i demogràfiques: http://www.badalona.cat/aj-badalona/ca/ciutat/coneixer-badalona/estadistica. Accessed 2 December 2010.
Lliuren prop de 5.000 firmes contra l’oratori d’Artigues. (2009). El Punt, April 28.
Campaña contra la apertura de una mezquita en Badalona. (2002). El Mundo, July 3.
Campuzano, Lourdes. (2002). Veïns d’Artigues, alarmats per un rumor, recullen firmes per evitar que s’hi obri la mesquita. El Punt, July 11.
El PP de Badalona pregunta a la alcaldesa si ha informado a los vecinos del Gorg de la futura ubicación de la mezquita. (2005). Europa Press, March 9.
Vecinos de Badalona (Barcelona) crean una plataforma contra la construcción de una mezquita en terreno público. (2006). Europa Press, October 25.
Presentan 20.800 firmas contra la construcción de una mezquita en Badalona (Barcelona). (2007). Europa Press, January 15.
This fieldwork was part of research conducted for a larger, book-length project that examines divergent reactions to mosques in the metropolitan areas of Barcelona and Madrid. The conclusions I draw are thus informed by tacit knowledge acquired from fieldwork conducted in other municipalities in Barcelona, as well as in Madrid, where opposition to mosques has been strikingly absent (Polanyi 1966).
Eleven of the 46 interviews were conducted in Barcelona with individuals involved in studying or mediating mosque disputes in Badalona and elsewhere in the region.
Just before the Festival of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha) in 2009, for instance, Muslim leaders, UNESCO Catalonia, and the city government organized a community-wide event to explain the holiday and to promote intercultural understanding. Several of the invited speakers were Spaniards who had migrated to Badalona in the past. They were asked to talk about their experiences as migrants, with the goal of highlighting similarities between their experiences and those of newer immigrants to the city.
In April of 2009, a group of 11 associations came together to form a coalition called “We Are All Badalona” (“Badalona Som Tots”), largely in response to the contention surrounding the proposed mosque in Artigas. The aim of the coalition was to promote intercultural understanding through a series of events that bring immigrants and long-time residents together around shared interests, values, and experiences. The coalition’s manifesto may be viewed at: http://bdnsomtots.wordpress.com/. Accessed 22 December 2010.
Several of those whom I interviewed confused Pakistanis with “Arabs,” often calling them moros (“Moors”), a derogatory term for individuals of North African descent.
The name of the neighborhood, “La Pau” (“La Paz” in Spanish), means “Peace” in Catalan. Its original name was “Barriada Bauret,” but this was changed to “Fondo,” and later to “La Pau” as a result of popular demand following Spain’s transition to democracy (Molina 1994).
These difficulties are linked to the tremendous escalation in housing prices in Badalona, and in Spain more generally, which took place as a consequence of Spain’s recent real-estate boom. This boom (which turned out to be a bubble) at once attracted many immigrants to work in the construction sector and complicated their ability to find affordable housing once in the country.
In response to the myriad complaints voiced with regard to pisos patera in Badalona, the city government arranged for the urban police to conduct a study of the matter in 2006 (see Benvenuty, Luis. (2007). Badalona detectó el año pasado 176 pisos patera. La Vanguardia, January 23).
The civic ordinance referenced here was a measure passed by the city government in 2008 in response to complaints about immigrants’ lack of respect for basic civic norms. The ordinance imposes economic sanctions on residents for “uncivil behavior,” which includes everything from littering to shaking out rugs from the balcony to feeding pigeons and stray cats (see García, Jesús. (2008). Badalona multará a los vecinos que sean incívicos en su vivienda. El País, October 2).
Here, I draw on Turner’s (1969) use of the term “liminal” to capture how peripheral neighborhoods in Badalona are perceived as a type of “no man’s land” where ordinary laws and regulations are unenforced.
Vecinos de Badalona (Barcelona) crean una plataforma contra la construcción de una mezquita en terreno público. (2006). Europa Press, October 25.
Membrives, Marta. (2011). Hegemonia del PP per sobre de l’autopista i a la zona sud. El Punt, May 24.
Here, I draw on Wacquant (2008, p. 160), who defines the term “ghetto” as “a homogeneous social formation, bearing a unitary cultural identity, endowed with an advanced organizational autonomy and institutional duplication, based on a dichotomous cleavage between races (i.e., fictively biologized ethnic categories) officially recognized by the state.”
The neighborhoods of Badalona with the largest proportion of foreign nationals are: La Pau (35 percent), Artigas (34 percent), Sant Roc (34 percent), and La Salut (34 percent). See Ajuntament de Badalona. (2010). Dades estadístiques i demogràfiques: http://www.badalona.cat/aj-badalona/ca/ciutat/coneixer-badalona/estadistica. Accessed 2 December 2010.
The “Park 51” Islamic center in Lower Manhattan was proposed several blocks from “Ground Zero,” while the “Abbey Mills” mosque in East London was proposed in close proximity to the site of the 2012 Olympic Games. See DeHanas and Pieri (2011) for a compelling analysis of the importance of scale in the East London case.
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Daniel DeHanas, Eric Eide, Alex Gerber, Kim Greenwell, Howard Kimeldorf, Jonathan Laurence, Jordi Moreras, Andrew Shryock, Margaret Somers, Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Ricard Zapata-Barrero, Genevieve Zubrzycki, and my colleagues from the Advanced Ethnographic Methods Workshop at the University of Michigan for their helpful feedback on earlier drafts of this article. I would also like to acknowledge the support I received from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius ZEIT-Stiftung, the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration at Pompeu Fabra University, and the University of Michigan’s Rackham Graduate School and European Union Center, without which this project would not have been possible. Finally, I am grateful to the Theory and Society Editors and reviewers for their critical but constructive input during the review process.
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Astor, A. Memory, community, and opposition to mosques: the case of Badalona. Theor Soc 41, 325–349 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-012-9169-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-012-9169-5