The activism of young muslims in Italy: Citizens 'crossing borders' in search of recognition.

The article examines how young Muslims born and/or raised in Italy enact "acts of citizenship" by combining religious belief with civic engagement, focusing on activists in two organizations: Giovani Musulmani d'Italia (GMI) and Islamic Relief (IR). It highlights how these youths challenge the Italian model of citizenship, which privileges autochthony (being born in the land) and an imperfect secularism that favors Catholic cultural norms, by promoting cultural pluralism and the right to difference within the public sphere. GMI activists emphasize local engagement and seek recognition as Italian Muslims, using strategies to denationalize Italianness and contest exclusionary citizenship practices, while IR activists adopt a more cosmopolitan approach, focusing on transnational humanitarian work inspired by Islamic ethics and universal human rights. Both groups reinterpret Islamic identity through ijtihād (interpretive effort) to reconcile faith with Western contexts, thereby contributing to new paradigms of citizenship that transcend nation-state boundaries and challenge methodological nationalism.