Multilayered identities: Belonging and migratory backgrounds among Muslim youth in Lisbon

The objective of this research is to explore how Muslim children and young people construct, negotiate, and make sense of their religious and cultural identities in contemporary Portugal. Special emphasis is placed on community and school settings, which are conceived as core spaces for socialisation, where the norms of belonging are constantly being created and contested. These are not merely institutional spaces but also everyday life environments in which children interact with peers, adults, and other authority figures, and in which their cultural and religious differences might become both visible and contentious. One of the key findings that emerges in this context is that religious identity encompasses much more than a system of beliefs: it is an embodied experience, as is the case when a child integrates their cultural and religious experiences into everyday storytelling.