On Being Young, Muslim, and from the Balkans: Perspectives of Belonging in Belgium and Germany

The disintegration of Yugoslavia ended with the mass migration of about four million people who found refuge in different European countries and overseas. As extensive literature on the Balkan diaspora primarily focused on their attachment to their former home and the fantasy of a return, interest and awareness about the descendants have remained at an early stage. By looking at two small communities of young Muslims born to former Yugoslavian Muslim families residing in Antwerp (Belgium) and Dortmund (Germany), this paper investigates whether such post-migrant generations remain exposed, if at all, to a condition of atopicality vis-à-vis the external ascription of migration and construction as migrants. Based on qualitative research methods, the findings permit us to discuss how feelings and practices of belonging and ‘being Muslim’ are still embedded in the family heritage, and heightened by ‘migratism’ and Islamophobia in Belgium and Germany.