National (dis)identification is examined in three studies among Turkish-Dutch Muslim participants. In explaining national (dis)identification, the first study focuses on ethnic identity, the second on ethnic and religious identity, and the third on three dimensions of religious identity. Many participants show low commitment to the nation, and many indicate national disidentification. In addition, there is very strong ethnic and religious identification. Ethnic and Muslim identifications relate negatively to Dutch identification and, in Study 3, to stronger Dutch disidentification. Furthermore, perceived group rejection is associated with increased ethnic minority and religious identification but also with decreased national Dutch identification. In addition, in Studies 1 and 2 the effect of perceived rejection on Dutch identification is (partly) mediated by minority group identification. The findings are discussed in relation to social psychological thinking about group identification, dual identities, and the importance of religion for intergroup relations.

The present research was conducted in the Netherlands and used an experimental design to examine the endorsement of minority rights among Turkish and Kurdish participants in two framed, national contexts: the Netherlands and Turkey. In the Dutch context, each group is a minority, whereas in the Turkish context the Kurds are an oppressed national minority and the Turks are the national majority. The results showed that the Turks were less in favor of minority rights in the Turkish context than in the Dutch context, whereas the Kurds were more in favor of minority rights in the Turkish than in the Dutch context. In addition, the endorsement of minority rights was related to beliefs about majority rule, state unity, and ingroup identification, as well as to cultural diversity and perceived pervasive discrimination. The associations with the former three measures differed between the two groups and the two national contexts, whereas the latter two measures had main effects on the endorsement of minority rights.

This paper investigates religious identity consolidation in terms of the endorsement of the rights of Dutch Muslims to publicly express their identity, and identity mobilization in terms of the attitude towards normative forms of political organization. Identity consolidation and mobilization were examined as a function of the content of Muslim identity. A distinction was made between an individualized and a communal interpretation of what it means to be a Muslim, in addition to orthodox belief. Personal meaning and personal certainty as two aspects of an individualized interpretation were found to be positively associated to the endorsement of Muslim expressive rights, but not to the attitude towards political organization. Behavioural involvement and Muslim group interdependence were positively associated with identity organization. Orthodoxy was related to both identity consolidation and mobilization. Theoretical implications of these results are discussed.

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.1993 in which the Madımak hotel in the Turkish city of Sivas was set on fire and 37 Alevi intellectuals died in the flames. We examine how the narrative of the massacre functions as political capital in creating a shared moral identity-an identity based on moral values and innocent victimhood (Hardy & Carlo, 2005). Ethnic and national narratives provide accounts of the group's origin, its nature, and its relationship to others. These narratives are analyzed as the changing result of continuous ''group-making projects'' by activists and organizations (e.g., Brubaker, 2004). Specifically, the social identity perspective developed in social psychology (Turner & Reynolds, 2001) argues that a shared identity forms the psychological basis for mobilization and collective action (Reicher & Hopkins, 2001).We adopt the social identity perspective for examining how the largest Alevi organization in Europe, the Confederation of European Alevi Unions (Avrupa Alevi Birlikleri Konfederasyonu [AABK]), construes and uses the collective trauma of Madımak to define Alevi identity and an inclusive victimhood. Focusing on the group understandings of Alevi activists in Europe is interesting for two reasons. First, it is not so much Alevis in Turkey but, rather, those in Europe that try to establish a common Alevi identity and to increase the public visibility of Alevism (S. S ¸ahin, 2005). The AABK predominantly focuses on the oppression and discrimination of Alevis in Turkey. They are transnational and active, for example, by establishing religious Cem Houses and their satellite TV station, YOL TV. Second, Alevi organizations face a serious challenge when it comes to unification and unity. The diversity among the Alevis is substantial and there is a clear lack of consensus about what it means to be an Alevi (So ¨kefeld, 2008). The internal diversity has led to various movements, which make the establishment of a common Alevi identity and a sense of commitment among the different subgroups a continuous challenge for Alevi leaders and organizations that seek to improve the situation of Alevis in Turkey. Furthermore, even when Alevis succeed in developing a shared identity, they remain, numerically, a minority group that is politically relatively powerless. In Turkey, however, they are not the only minority group that faces oppression. A sense of shared victimhood can form a basis for mobilizing these other groups. SOCIOPOLITICAL HISTORYAlevism, historically Kızılbas ¸lık (literally, Redhead), refers to a heterodox, syncretic faith with a mix of mystical Sufi Islam, polytheist beliefs of Mesopotamia and Central Asia, and Shi'ite Islam (Moosa, 1988). Most Alevi live in Anatolia, Turkey, but Alevism is spread across Asia Minor YILDIZ AND VERKUYTENThis document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of...

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Muslims living in western Europe have to manage their religious identity in societies that tend to define Islam as a religion of violence and terrorism. The current study examines the ways in which two major Turkish Muslim organizations (Milli Görüş and Fethullah Gülen) in the Netherlands and Germany publicly define a morally acceptable identity by arguing ‘what we are not’. Empirically, the focus is on the debate about Muslim terrorism in the newspapers and magazines of these organizations. The organizations try to define a morally acceptable position by redrawing identity boundaries and redefining and essentializing the content of Muslim identity. By redrawing boundaries, terrorists are placed outside of Islam and a distinction with terrorism is made. In addition, the essential nature of Islam is presented to be compatible with the host society. It is maintained that Muslim organizations reveal the real face of Islam by encouraging and developing initiatives for integration and civic participation of Muslims in the host societies.

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