SLDG: In a Lifetime with the State: Mapping Legal and Spatial Regulation of Islam and Muslim Communities in Denmark

The doctoral thesis explores the legal and spatial dimensions of an increasingly regulatory environment around Islam and Muslim communities in Danish society since the 2000s. This regulatory environment is not only defined by a high level of expansion of formal law but also informal law and cuts across common domains that draw distinction (i.e., private/public, everyday, and institutional) and objects of regulation (i.e., body, practice, and belief). Through six case studies, the thesis aims to map a “lifetime” with the State, meaning to illustrate the legal/spatial and embodied/temporal realities of different stages of a person’s life within the Danish legal and welfare system. The theoretical framework is built on critical legal cartography and legal consciousness literature. The methodology draws on data triangulation, including grey literature (i.e., legislative, and judicial sources), biographical narrative interviews, and semi-structured interviews with judicial officials, public authorities, and administrative actors.