Religious Matters
in an Entangled World

Margreet van Es

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Utrecht University

Year of birth: 1984

Current position: Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Utrecht University

Past positions: Postdoctoral Researcher Religious Studies, Utrecht University; PhD Researcher, University of Oslo

Personal Profile:

Margreet van Es is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Utrecht University. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on religious and cultural diversity in Europe, and lies at the intersection of religious studies, anthropology, sociology and social history. Within the research group ‘Religious Matters in an Entangled World’, she has developed her own research line on religion, food, cosmopolitanism, and belonging. She currently studies the emergence of trendy, alcohol-free halal restaurants in Rotterdam. Previously, she also studied the use of pork in anti-Islam protests.

Margreet van Es studied History at Leiden University. She obtained her PhD from the University of Oslo in Norway. Her postdoctoral research project ‘Muslims Condemning Violent Extremism’ at Utrecht University was financed by the European Committee via a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fund (H2020-MSCA-IF-2015). For her PhD and postdoctoral research, she analyzed anti-Muslim rhetoric in Europe, as well as the attempts made by Muslims to counter stereotypical representations of Islam.

Recent scholarly papers/books:

Special Issue

(2021) ‘Beyond “Radical” versus “Moderate”? New Perspectives on the Politics of Moderation in Muslim Majority and Muslim Minority Settings.’ Co-edited with Nina ter Laan and Erik Meinema. Religion 51 (2). Open Access.

Book

(2016) Stereotypes and Self-Representations of Women with a Muslim Background: The Stigma of Being Oppressed. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Articles in journals

(2021) ‘Norwegian Muslims Denouncing Terrorism: Beyond “Moderate” versus “Radical”?’, Religion 51 (2): 169–189.

(2020) ‘Roasting a Pig in Front of a Mosque: How Pork Matters in Pegida’s Anti-Islam Protest in Eindhoven’, Religions 11 (7): 359–375.

(2019) ‘The Promise of the Social Contract: Muslim Perspectives on the Culturalization of Citizenship and the Demand to Denounce Violent Extremism’, Ethnic and Racial Studies 42 (16): 141–158.

(2019) ‘Muslim Women as “Ambassadors” of Islam: Breaking Stereotypes in Everyday Life’, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 26 (14): 375–392.