Whiteness, non-whiteness and ‘faith information control’: religion among young people in Grønland, Oslo

This article is based on a qualitative study of religion among young people in the inner-city multicultural Grønland area in Oslo. We use Goffman's stigma analysis to explore the interplay of ethnicity, race and religion in this particular urban space and beyond. An important observation is that whiteness hides information about faith, or even signals ‘secular’, whereas non-whiteness signifies ‘religious’ across the racial boundary. We examine how visible stigma or prestige symbols connect with invisible ones to different degrees and with various consequences across space. ‘Faith information control’ is closely attached to the status of faith as a stigma symbol, and further to the ethnic and racial marking of the interaction context. By exploring the intersections of ethnicity, race and religion in everyday life, we contribute to the ‘third wave’ of whiteness studies.