Muslim refugees’ search for normative orientation at the intersection of religion, law and everyday life in Eastern Germany

Abstract

In a contemporary world shaped by plurality, mobility, and overlapping normative orders, questions of normative orientation are becoming increasingly significant. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in cities in Eastern Germany, this article examines how Muslim refugees navigate religious, customary, and nation-state orders and frames of reference under conditions of flight and migration. It asks how normative standards for action are perceived, negotiated, (re-)interpreted, and situationally adapted in everyday life. The article starts from the observation that refugees are not merely passive recipients of existing normative systems, but actively move between different normative options. Its aim is to conceptualize normative orientation as a relational process of negotiation embedded in everyday life. Through ethnographic vignettes, the article focuses on constellations in which shifts, nuances of meaning, and new forms of normative validity emerge through the practical engagement with normative orders.