Migrants often face particular difficulties if they want to make their voices heard. If they are not citizens of their country of residence, they do not have the same political rights as the non-migrant population. Also, they often represent a social class with limited access to resources that are relevant for political involvement and may be perceived as illegitimate political actors (or perceive themselves illegitimate political actors). At the same time, many migrants face situations of social, economic and political marginalisation that would give them ample reasons to protest or to get involved politically otherwise.
Social movement theory has shown that is essential for mobilisation how issues of discontent are framed and legitimacy of situations and actors is constructed. As Noakes and Johnston note, “all social movements must ‘break the frames’ of quiescence and acceptance of the status quo that characterizes everyday life” (Noakes/Johnston 2005: 7). Can religion as a symbolic system offer the cultural fabric needed for the construction of interpretations that migrant leaders can use to break overcome frames? Can it offer legitimacy as well as examples for collective struggle or solidarity?
The present paper shows that Christian migrants from sub-Saharan Africa in Berlin indeed draw on their religion in order to create religious, and, at the same time, political federations. Based on semi-structured interviews, it first outlines how leaders use their religion in order to overcome internal differences and bring together a large part of the (Christian) African community in the city. It also shows how they link religious themes with explicitly political goals. In a second step, a social network analysis shows that, at least in terms of co-membership networks, religious actors are more successful in building overarching structures than secular actors.
