Antonina Albanese
This chapter examines the internal dynamics of the Muslim community in Palermo, focusing on processes of representation, participation, and power-sharing within a rapidly transforming urban and socio-political context shaped by migration. The analysis, based on qualitative interviews with religious leaders and grounded in theoretical debates on urban diversity, secularism, and the mediatization of Islam, situates Palermo as a key arena of negotiation between local governance, transnational mobility, and religious pluralism. The study highlights how Muslim communities navigate a fragmented landscape marked by spatial marginalization, uneven access to places of worship, and restrictive migration policies. Mosques and informal prayer spaces emerge not only as religious sites but as crucial infrastructures for community-building, social support, and institutional mediation. At the same time, the chapter underscores the persistence of distorted media representations, which frame Islam through securitarian and homogenizing narratives, generating a gap between lived experience and public discourse and contributing to symbolic vulnerability. In response, Muslim communities develop forms of self-representation and ethical communication aimed at countering stereotypes, while internal governance relies on distributed and often informal mechanisms of leadership and responsibility-sharing. However, these practices unfold within a broader context characterized by limited political representation, weak institutional recognition, and a lack of coherent national frameworks regulating religious pluralism. The findings point to a model of “diffused governance,” in which local actors compensate for institutional gaps, while highlighting structural tensions between local openness and national-level constraints. The Palermo case reflects broader challenges in the Italian context, where the relationship between religion, migration, and citizenship remains contested. The chapter ultimately calls for a rethinking of public policies on religious freedom and participation, emphasizing the need to recognize religion as a constitutive dimension of contemporary urban citizenship.