Deepening democracy: The Muslim struggle for civil rights and belonging in Spain since 1975

This dissertation looks at how Muslims in Spain have changed uneven patches of legislation, especially linked to religious pluralism and to immigration, and have fortified Spain's frail history and practice of democracy since 1975. They have achieved this through active civil engagement and a persistent struggle for rights and for status as immigrants and as citizens on par with ethnic Spaniards. It examines how Muslims have interacted with Spanish popular traditions, have challenged Eurocentric historical narratives, and have used such Spanish concepts as convivencia (peaceful coexistence) and arraigo (rootedness) to expand the prevailing construction of belonging.

The dissertation begins with Melilla in the years 1985 to 1988, when undocumented Muslim residents mounted a successful campaign for civil rights, the first of its kind by Muslims in modern Spanish history, and questioned nativist control of the enclave. It then moves to mainland Spain, where, from 1989 to 2001, Muslims formed independent organizations, pushed for national regularizations of undocumented residents, and modified immigration laws. The dissertation continues with a focus on how devout Muslims lobbied to institutionalize Islam in Spain, fought for the right to construct mosques despite heavy nativist resistance, and balanced women's rights in the Muslim community and broader secular context. It turns next to the ways that Muslims have interrogated the memory of the Moor in Spanish history and in popular festivals, such as the Festival of Moors and Christians, and how this has played out particularly in regions with strong nationalist traditions, such as Catalonia. The dissertation concludes with a survey of the writings of Muslim immigrants in Spanish and in Catalan and how these works have publicized the everyday experience of migration in Spain.