Religion and everyday cosmopolitanism among religious and non-religious urban youth

Abstract

While there is ample research on everyday cosmopolitanism, the relation with religion is less understood. This study examines the difference in everyday cosmopolitanism between Muslim, Christian and non-religious urban youth. Further, it studies the influence of religiosity, religious identification and perceived discrimination on cosmopolitanism. A one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted on data from 1039 students in 17 secondary schools in the super-diverse city of Antwerp. Multilevel regression analysis was conducted on a sample of Muslim ( n = 496) and Christian ( n = 225) youth. The results indicate no difference between religious and non-religious youth regarding their everyday cosmopolitanism. Moreover, for Muslim youth, intrinsic religiosity is positively associated with cosmopolitan orientations, while religious identification and discrimination negatively effect cosmopolitanism. For Christian youth, religious factors do not explain their cosmopolitan orientations. Overall, the article suggests that scholars and policy makers should discuss the potential of religion to foster cosmopolitan orientations.