Youth On Religion Centre for Child and Youth Research Seminar Day Brunel University Friday 12 April 2013 Professor Nicola Madge on behalf of the YOR team and all the young people who took part in the research Youth On ReligionYouth On Religion The Youth on Religion project: Young people and the negotiation of identity in three diverse urban locations

Youth On Religion (YOR) project

Setting the Context

Changing Britain  Massive population change in even past decade  Growth of diversity  Impact on both indigenous and incoming populations

The sociological tradition  Current times not without some precedent  Impact of urbanisation and industrialisation  Issues of social order and social cohesion  Significance of religion under these conditions

YOR Study

The research areas

Population change in the study areas by ethnic group

Population change in the study areas by religion

Population change in the study areas by place of birth

Negotiating individual and collective identities  How do young people represent and express their religiosity?  What are the key influences on their religious identities?  How does religion affect their daily lives?  Is there solidarity and cohesion across religious identities?

The research data 10, year- olds completed online survey year-olds participated in discussion groups Paired interviews also held with those in discussion groups year-olds completed e-Journals and at least two made scrapbooks ‘Hard to reach ‘ groups

YOR sample

Religions in the overall sample (survey data: N=9966)

Sample by religion and area (N=9926)

Importance of religion by faith group

Importance of religion by ethnicity

The importance of religion in young people’s lives (survey data: N=9944) Very important

Religious identity

Personal meanings of religion I would not consider myself as very religious, but I have faith Religion is a back- up plan It dictates what I do in life I know I have a friend who will stand by me in everything It’s making us one big family and we’re all brothers and sisters It brings communities together – I like that part of it It gives you hope and stuff

Aspects of identity Religious labelBeliefBelongingPublic practicePrivate practice

Religious labels and meaning You see everything through Muslim tinted glasses if that makes sense… you are your religion But God always comes first in whatever I do. And whatever I do, I have to put God into the equation I’m Christian… But to say that like I’m proper hard core Christian and I do all whatever Christians do, then I don’t really do that When I say Sikh, I class it more or less as just who I am rather than what I believe in Christian Muslim Christian Sikh

Influences on identity Developing cognitions and understandings Exposure to values and cultures through family, friends, social institutions, religious groups, the digital world etc. Spatial, social and economic contexts in which grow up

Some other findings A typology of religiosity was developed The importance of religion varied by faith group and ethnicity Shared values of ‘liberal individualism’ characterised young people in the sample And almost all said that personal agency was a critical determinant of their religious journeys Acculturation was also important

The detailed findings will be published in the forthcoming book: Nicola Madge, Peter Hemming and Kevin Stenson (2013) Youth On Religion: the development, negotiation and impact of faith and non-faith identity, London: Routledge.

A typology of religiosity? Strict Adherents Flexible Adherents PragmatistsBystanders

Distribution of typology in survey sample (N=8634)

Key factors and processes Religion, culture and heritagePersonal agencyMultiple realitiesAcculturation

The question of social cohesion ‘Liberal individualism’ Love and marriage Sensitivities Tensions Friends

A generation in transition?  Religion still important in young people’s lives  Signs of familial embeddedness and continuity  But a movement from ‘obligation’ to ‘consumption’ (as suggested by Grace Davie)  Is secularisation a reality?  How will Islam develop in Britain?  Will liberal individualism persist among young people as they grow older, particularly if there is competition for scare resources?