The role of religious engagement in mobilizing immigrant political participation in the case of Sweden

Religion has been proposed to have the potential to provide transnational identity, resources, and networks for the mobilization of immigrants into politics, especially for the disadvantaged Muslim group in Europe. In this study, I test the role of religious engagement in mobilizing immigrants' political participation in the context of Sweden, using representative LNU-UFB immigrant survey data. I do not find higher political participation among religious immigrants compared to the non-religious, and engagement in non-religious civil society organizations or trade unions plays a much stronger role in mobilizing immigrants into politics. Moreover, the level of religious attendance is associated with less political participation. While the effect of religion varies across immigrant groups, it is not positive, except for those from Sub-Saharan Africa. Those who have experienced discrimination based on religion tend to be less politically active, particularly Muslims. In addition, religion plays a stronger role in undermining political participation among women and first-generation immigrants, but also potentially provides political incentives for second-generation Muslim immigrants. Overall, religious engagement has a mostly negative impact on immigrants’ political participation in the case of Sweden.