In 2011, al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden, was killed in Pakistan and the US president, Barack Obama, concluded a decade of global 'war against terror'. In light of this, it seems only sensible to explore what implications the post-9/11 international developments have had on a local basis in specific national contexts. With this in mind, this article focuses on Denmark and discusses how the critical event of 9/11 motivated a security/integration response, including various pre-emptive measures that have cast the Muslim population as the usual suspects. It will discuss how these changes have affected the everyday lives of ordinary Danish Muslims over the last ten years and changed the relationship between majorities and minorities. Finally, it will also examine how and why recent national and international events have created the potential for another shift in majority-minority relations.
Focusing on the settlement of Iraqi women and their families in Copenhagen, this article explores how the intersections of social class relations, ethnicity and gender affect the inclusion and exclusion of Iraqi refugees in Danish society. Through the analysis of an extended case study, it pays special attention to the downward 'class journey' experienced by many of the women in the course of their settlement, and the discrimination they can face as immigrants and Muslims. The article argues that, while the women's participation in Iraqi Shi'a Muslim activities may appear to make up a form of continuity rooted in their ethno-religious background, their social networks are to a large extent a reflection of their new social positions in society. Moreover, the cross-section of factors such as social class, gender, ethnicity and local context not only affect the social position that the women acquire in society, but also how they experience and come to see the society in which they live. Finally, the article demonstrates the great impact that the organisation of the Danish welfare state has had on the trajectories of the social incorporation of Iraqi refugees in Denmark.
This introduction presents a framework for the articles in the special issue Rituals of Migration. First, it provides an overview of studies of ritual and migration, highlighting the fruitfulness of exploring the two fields together and arguing for the use of ritual as a cultural prism on processes of continuity and change in migration. In light of these analytical approaches, the introduction continues by outlining and discussing the three major themes that crosscut the articles (the interrelations between change and continuity, processes of placemaking and lines of social differentiation), demonstrating how the articles can shed light on these issues.
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