“This book is a well-written, valuable contribution to the study of Islam in Germany and Europe. What makes it such an enjoyable read is the rich detail in which the author portrays elements of the everyday lives of pious Muslims and communities within the study.” • Journal of Religion in Europe
“Focusing on the transformation of Muslims and urban Islam in Germany, this examination of the dynamics of the socioreligious lifeworlds in a European city is a useful contribution to discussions about the integration of 'immigrant religions' into mainstream European cultures. This work is a valuable source for researchers and students working on minority religions in urban spaces and on Muslims in Germany.” • Current Anthropology
“Faithfully Urban is an important and enlightening book on a topic that has gainedurgency in the last few years… scholars of immigration in contemporary Germany, Islam in Europe, and urban studies will read her insightful book with great profit.” • German Studies Review
“One of the great strengths of Kuppinger’s book is her capacity, through deeply detailed storytelling, to ground dominant—and often borderless—debates over Islam’s questioned belonging to Europe. She counters the ambiguities of such debates with the clear, quotidian negotiations of the Muslim city-dweller, her/himself…By the end of the book, the reader is attuned to the shared experiences of Muslim and non-Muslim urban inhabitants. Kuppinger has effectively undermined taken-for-granted assumptions about the difference and distinctiveness of Muslims in contemporary Germany through detailed accounts of their everyday lives. This is a remarkable feat, replacing projections of otherness with understandings of the shared experiences that accompany cultural particularities.” • Reading Religion
“Through remarkably careful and rich ethnography, the author shows how Muslims are part and parcel of urban life in Stuttgart, and how they transform the city and are transformed by the urban life there.” • Esra Özyürek, London School of Economics
“The author successfully presents an approach that differs from most studies on Muslims in Germany or Western Europe and is certainly providing an important contribution to the study of Islam in Europe in general and to the urban Muslim presence in particular.” • Riem Spielhaus, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg
In the southern German city of Stuttgart lives a pious Muslim population that has merged with the local population to create a meaningful shared existence. In this ethnographic account, the author introduces and examines the lives of ordinary residents, neighborhoods, and mosque communities to analyze moments and spaces where Muslims and non-Muslims engage with each other and accommodate their respective needs. These accounts show that even in the face of resentment and discrimination, this pious population has indeed become an integral part of the urban community.
Petra Kuppinger is Professor of Anthropology at Monmouth College and President of the Society of Urban National and Transnational Anthropology (2014–16). Recent publications include “Flexible Topographies: Muslim Spaces in a German Cityscape,” Social and Cultural Geography (2014) and “Crushed? Cairo’s Garbage Collectors and Neoliberal Urban Politics,” Journal of Urban Affairs (2014).
LC: BP65.G32S785 2015
BL: DRT ELD.DS.152183
BISAC: SOC048000 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Islamic Studies; SOC026030 SOCIAL SCIENCE/Sociology/Urban
BIC: JFSG Urban communities; JFSR2 Islamic studies
