The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe / Edition 1

by Jytte Klausen

Overview

The voices in this book belong to parliamentarians, city councilors, doctors and engineers, a few professors, lawyers and social workers, owners of small businesses, translators, and community activists. They are also all Muslims, who have decided to become engaged in political and civic organizations. And for that reason, they constantly have to explain themselves, mostly in order to say who they are not. They are not fundamentalists, not terrorists, and most do not support the introduction of Islamic religious law in Europe—especially not its application to Christians. This book is about who these people are, and what they want.

This book is based on three hundred interviews with European Muslim leaders from six European countries: Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, and Germany. The question of Islam in Europe is not a matter of global war and peace but raises difficult questions about the positions of Christianity and Islam in public life, and about European identities. Europe's Muslim political leaders are not aiming to overthrow liberal democracy and to replace secular law with Islamic religious law. Those are the positions of a minority. There is not one Muslim position on how Islam should develop in Europe but many views, and most Muslims are rather looking for ways to build institutions that will allow European Muslims to practice their religion in a way that is compatible with social integration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199231980
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	02/06/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 6.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jytte Klausen is Professor of Politics at Brandeis University and Research Associate at The Center for European Studies, at Harvard University. She is the author of numerous books and articles on immigrant integration, Islam in Europe, the European welfare state and social inclusion.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Islam in Europe1. Europe's New Muslim Political Elite2. How do Muslim Leaders see the Problems? 3. Belief and Politics4. From Conflict to Culture War5. Christian and Muslim Europe6. Sexual Politics and MulticulturalismConclusion: Liberal Muslims and the Emergence of European IslamMethodological AppendixBibliography

Editorial Reviews

Klausen, a Danish political scientist who teaches at Brandeis, interviewed 300 European Muslim leaders in Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom in order to discover what European Muslim elites think about the issues raised by the presence of so many Muslims in those countries and the policies pursued by European governments in order to integrate or assimilate them. The best way of dispelling myths and prejudices is to confront them with facts, and what makes this thoughtful and honest volume so useful is its refusal to simplify an extraordinarily complex picture. Few of the results support the notion of a "clash of civilizations"; extremism is not a clear and present danger. But moderation and widespread acceptance of liberal principles are only a first step toward accommodation. Of course, the problem of accommodation can be solved only if European states and societies show a willingness to make room for Islam and, if necessary, adapt their "state-church policies and public philosophies" accordingly. This is especially difficult when the latter are, as in France, resolutely anticommunitarian or when ethnic and religious prejudices make Muslim integration problematic and perpetuate discrimination. By destroying bogeymen, Klausen forces us to face rationally and compassionately sensitive and difficult issues of great importance to Europe's future.

Foreign Affairs

"Refreshingly down-to-earth.... [a] valuable book."—The Economist

"What makes this thoughtful and honest volume so useful is its refusal to simplify an extraordinarily complex picture. ... By destroying bogeymen, Klausen forces us to face rationally and compassionately sensitive and difficult issues of great importance to Europe's future."—Stanley Hoffman for Foreign Affairs

"An important corrective... Klausen's survey presents a useful counterpoint to the now-hackneyed image of disaffected Muslim youth by emphasizing the malleable political and ideological responses to local politics."—World Policy Journal

From the Publisher