Preservation of Religious-Cultural Identity in Immigrants: Factors Affecting the Integration of Turkish Muslims into French Society

Abstract

In the history of the world, migration mobility is a phenomenon that started with the first humans. This important social mobility continues for different reasons from the primitive periods of human life to today's modern age, where communication and transportation opportunities have reached their peak. Each of the migration movements has problems within its own framework and affects the individuals and societies participating in the migration process. The confrontation of migrants with problems starts from the moment they intend to migrate, and continues with the process of preparation for migration, embarking on the migration journey, arriving at the destination region or country, settling in the place of migration, and the process of adaptation to the new social environment, the new society, the culture and ways of life of this new society for generations over the years. The most important problem that immigrants face in the adaptation process is the effort to adapt to the new socio-cultural environment, which shows serious differences in many areas, while maintaining an identity and personality structure specific to their own culture. Within the framework of the cultural structures of Christian European countries, the most complex problems for Muslim immigrants to solve in the adaptation process are experienced and observed as the problems that Muslims have to face in matters related to their religious beliefs and worship practices. In this article, some of the factors affecting the adaptation process of Muslim Turks who immigrated to France, one of the countries whose institutional, social structures and mental worlds are characterized by Christian religious beliefs, worship and cultural codes, to the social structure of French social life are examined. The research deals with the factors affecting the adaptation process within the context of the religion itself, the belief system, its practices and the Turkish-Islamic culture, which has been shaped for centuries under its influence. The study is continued within this scope, and by drawing a certain framework, many more factors affecting the adaptation process are left outside the limitations of the research. Within these limitations, the problem of the research is expressed in a desired depth within the dimension allowed by the article. The research was completed by obtaining data using the documentary scanning/documentation method, which is one of the data collection methods of scientific studies in the field, and making evaluations and interpretations.  

Highlights

• Migration causes significant changes in the lives of individuals and societies.
• Social integration is an important criterion for a stable life.
• It is important to preserve social identity in order not to assimilate.
• Factors such as racism, Islamophobia, socio-cultural structure are effective in the integration process.
• Muslim Turks experience significant problems in French social spaces during the integration process.