exploring muslim identities in europe & north america

Spyros Sofos, professeur de sciences politiques à Lund, commune de la même région, et auteur de divers essais sur l'Islam, le nationalisme et l'Europe, nous explique les raison et les conséquences de l'islamophobie grandissante dans la localité de Malmö. Qu'est-ce qu'être musulman? Tout d'abord être musulman signifie tellement de choses différentes ! L'Etat Suédois a une vision très restreinte de ce qu'est être musulman. En effet, à Malmö les populations dites “musulmanes” viennent d'Iraq, de Bosnie, du Liban, d'Iran, de Turquie, d'Afghanistan, de Somalie ou du Pakistan. Ranger toutes ces communautés dans un seul bloc appelé "musulman" est erroné : il existe des musulmans très pratiquants et d'autres beaucoup plus séculaires, comme les Bosniaques. En fait, certains jeunes ne sont même pas pratiquants du tout, mais leurs parents le sont, on peut dire qu'ils sont culturellement musulmans. L'Islam est-elle une religion...

Suède: Un islam intégré et accepté? by Elvire Michel from Europa, #36 Spring 2013 http://www.journaleuropa.info/Formats/Articles/un-islam-integre-et-accept e Fortement attachée aux valeurs de tolérance et de protection des minorités, la Suède encourage fortement l'immigration, notamment celle de réfugiés politiques originaires du Moyen-Orient. Le territoire suédois aux allures paradisiaques pour ces peuples est pourtant loin d'être idyllique. Malmö en particulier souffre d'une sinistre réputation dans le reste du pays. Malmö, ville dynamique située à l'extrême sud de la Suède, dispose d'une population de 50,000 musulmans pour 300,000 habitants. Le quartier de Rosengard, majoritairement peuplé par des immigrés musulmans, a été sujet à de violentes émeutes et protestations en 2008, suite aux prises de parti dans le conflit Israëlo-Palestinien, et suite à la possible fermeture du Centre islamique culturel, utilisé comme lieu de prière. Les médias et les mouvements ...

"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...

A research team based at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence has released a report on the English Defence League (EDL) and its European allies . The report provides a rare insight on the EDL and its strategy of linking up with other European islamophobic movements which the authors of the report  refer to collectively as the European Counter-Jihad Movement. According to the report In the last several months  this loose international alliance has begun to exhibit a more developed  operational structure.  Based on fieldwork in Europe and interviews with the  leading figures of the  European Counter-Jihad Movement, the report points out that the latter, u nlike most other far-right organisations, remains  a one-issue movement, and has yet to show an interest in  expanding its scope to cover other popular concerns. The authors suggest that the  European Counter-Jihad Movement  espouses wha...

Although not directly related to the theme of this weblog I felt it was important to dedicate a note to the Words of Women from the Egyptian Revolution project which  sheds light on, and documents the participation of women in the Egyptian revolution. Although the Egyptian middle class is over-represented in the women interviewed, the sheer diversity of outlooks, lifestyles and pathways to taking part in the protests and the movement that surrounds them reveals the complexity of the social dynamics in Egypt today. And, more importantly, the voices of the women interviewed are voices of determination, courage, steadfastness and resilience, yet, at the same time, they are voices of ordinary people, simple, devoid of bravado and pretense. This is a worthy project that explores the encounter of the mundane and the trivial with the heroic, that injects the experiences of ordinary women in a male-dominated collective memory. And although  the enunciators are women...

A report on Muslim Participation in Contemporary Governance published by the Centre for the Study and Citizenship at University of Bristol, examines British Muslims’ inclusion in governance related to the areas of equality and cohesion; faith sector governance; and security. Drawing upon an analysis of public policy since 1997, 112 interviews with key policymakers and Muslim activists, as well as case studies of Birmingham, Leicester, and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the report suggests that ”Muslims have become increasingly visible in governance recently” and that, through a combination of developments within national level legislation and policy and increasing Muslim activism in the areas of equalities and the recognition of Muslim distinctiveness within legislation and social policy. Overall, the report evaluated the degree of activity and effectiveness of Muslim interaction with government in three key areas: presence, voice and impact. The report asks a number of signif...

Introduction: Back to the Drawing Board: Rethinking Multiculturalism Spyros A. Sofos   &   Roza Tsagarousianou pages 263-271 The Terror in Norway and the Multiculturalist Scapegoat Elisabeth Eide pages 273-284 European Muslim Audiences and the Negotiation of Belonging Roza Tsagarousianou pages 285-294 Ethno-Cultural Clusters and Russian Multicultural Cities: The Case of the South Russian Agglomeration Oxana Karnaukhova pages 295-305 ‘And People's Concerns Were Genuine: Why Didn't We Listen More?’: Nationalism, Multiculturalism and Recognition in Europe Umut Ozkirimli pages 307-321 excerpt from the introductory article Immigration and the Limits of Tolerance Current debates about immigration in Europe, in many ways are not that dissimilar to those of the 1980s as they still revolve around the question of whether (national) societies have the capacity to ‘absorb’ people with different cultures and values. This qu...