van der Does, Tamara

Immigration theorists argue that religion in Europe is a source of social cleavage, a “bright boundary” separating Muslim immigrants from non-Muslims (Alba 2005; Zolberg and Woon 1999). This dynamic can lead to salient religious identities and subsequent heightened religiosity. I use latent growth analysis to model changes in religiosity in early adolescence using the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey of Four European Countries. Even as they secularize, I find that Christian children of immigrants assign more importance to religion compared to natives, a difference that does not decrease over time. Muslim children of immigrants are not only more attached to religion but participate more in religious communities over time, diverging from other second-generation immigrants. However, Muslim religiosity does not impede engagement with the mainstream, but may instead foster the development of a Muslim European pan-ethnic identity.