exploring muslim identities in europe & north america

Being Muslim in France means having to navigate through a complex terrain informed by an aggressive secularism, sponsored by the state, a hostile to Islam public opinion (as the recent successes of Marine Lepen in the opinion polls suggest) and a sectarian Muslim communal life. The following text by Giles Kepel that appeared in Le Monde on 01.11.2013, provides an interesting take on the transformations taking place within French Islam but also reflects aspects of the official discourse on the relationship between Islam and the French state. The translation is my own. On 15 October, for the first time in the history of the Republic, an incumbent Prime Minister visited the Great Mosque of Paris , on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the great feast of the Islamic calendar. In a brief statement, Jean-Marc Ayrault spoke to millions of our fellow believers in what he called "a great religion of France" to extend his wishes. He reminded them of "the ...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/riots-in-stokholm-continue-as-youth-vent-frustrations-a-901704.html By  Frauke Lüpke-Narberhaus For most people, Sweden is a place of prosperity and order. But this week, a different side of the country is showing itself. Many in Stockholm's suburbs are deeply frustrated and demanding to be heard. Those familiar with the capital's immigrant neighborhoods are not surprised. It hasn't taken long for such images to seem almost normal: In the Stockholm suburb of Husby, six cars stood in flames as some 400 people looked on when the fire department arrived to extinguish the fires on Thursday. "We are receiving reports that there are a lot of people there," a police spokesman told news agency TT as the situation developed. It was the fifth consecutive night that the Swedish capital has been wracked by rioting. Other suburbs, too, saw rampaging youth on Thursday night. Three cars were lit on fire in Norsborg wh...

"ISLAM AND NATIONALISM". A new book series from Palgrave Macmillan. Series editors Umut Özkırımlı and Spyros A. Sofos - Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Lund University. International Advisory Board includes (in alphabetical order) Seyla Benhabib, Sondra Hale, Deniz Kandiyoti, Saba Mahmood, Jorgen S. Nielsen, James Piscatori, Gayatri C. Spivak, Bryan S. Turner, Peter van der Veer, Nira Yuval-Davis and Sami Zubaida. One of the main objectives of this series is to explore the relationship between Islam, nationalism and citizenship in its diverse expressions. The series intends to provide a space for approaches that recognize the potential of Islam to permeate and inspire national forms of identification, and systems of government as well as its capacity to inspire oppositional politics, alternative modes of belonging and the formation of counterpublics in a variety of local, national or transnational contexts. By recognizing Islam as a transnational phenomenon and situati...

The Sarkozy government's debates on national identity peddle the same old story about the enemy within – French Muslims by Faïza Guène   guardian.co.uk, Thursday 28 January 2010 10.00 GMT The nationwide debate on national identity launched in November by Eric Besson , the minister of immigration, national identity, integration, and co-development, has now been raging for several weeks. I'm actually not that surprised by all of this – we have grown accustomed to these diversionary tactics used by the government, sort of like when a magician distracts you with a dove in order to better conceal the ace of clubs hidden up his sleeve. David Copperfield might as well go back to where he came from now that Nicolas Sarkozy's government is in place. Of course this isn't the first time that politicians have encouraged the public to think about empty questions on the eve of elections, in this case the regional elections scheduled for March 2010. They tried that old trick with...

Five years ago bombings and riots fuelled anxiety that Europe's Muslims were on the verge of mass radicalisation. Those predictions have not been borne out. Jason Burke in Paris and Ian Traynor in Brussels  The Observer , Sunday 26 July 2009 Muslim women go shopping in Marseille. Photograph: Michel Gangne/AFP/Getty Images A district of derelict warehouses, red-brick terraces, and vibrant street life on the canals near the centre of Brussels, Molenbeek was once known as Belgium's "Little Manchester". These days it is better known as "Little Morocco" since the population is overwhelmingly Muslim and of North African origin. By day, the scene is one of children kicking balls on busy streets, of very fast, very small cars with very large sound systems. By night, the cafes and tea houses are no strangers to drug-dealers and mafia from the Maghreb. For the politically active extreme right, and the anti-Islam...