Media, Culture & Society 35(8) 926–942 © The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0163443713501930 mcs.sagepub.com Muslim bloggers in Germany: an emerging counterpublic Stine Eckert University of Maryland, USA Kalyani Chadha University of Maryland, USA Abstract The Muslim minority in Germany has been historically misrepresented in and excluded from the mainstream public sphere. In response, some Muslims in Germany have turned to blogs as an alternative space to challenge the dominant public discourse through varied discursive practices. In this study, we examine these practices through 28 in- depth interviews with Muslim bloggers in Germany. Applying Nancy Fraser’s theory of counterpublics, we posit that this group, which seeks to challenge mainstream representations and offer oppositional counter-discourses, represents an emerging counterpublic. Keywords Germany, counterpublic sphere, Habermas, Muslim bloggers, online counterpublic, political blogging, public sphere Muslims in the German media “Shocking Study,” screamed the headline in Bild, Germany’s leading tabloid, comment- ing on a government study that reported that nearly 25 percent of German Muslims refused to integrate into German society and rejected western values (Solms-Laubach, 2012). Released in March 2012, the study titled “The Daily Life of Young Muslims in Germany” (Frindte et al., 2011) has reignited the thorny debate about the place of Muslims in German society. Indeed, in sharp contrast to the early 1950s and 1960s, when German politicians eager to find solutions to the country’s post-war labor shortages Corresponding author: Stine Eckert, University of Maryland, 2100N Knight Hall, College Park, MD 20740, USA. Email: keckert@umd.edu 501930MCS 35 8 10.1177/0163443713501930Media, Culture & SocietyEckert and Chadha 2013 Article