Muslims in Western Politics

by Abdulkader H. Sinno (Editor)

Overview

Looking closely at relations between Muslims and their host countries, Abdulkader H. Sinno and an international group of scholars examine questions of political representation, identity politics, civil liberties, immigration, and security issues. While many have problematized Muslims in the West, this volume takes a unique stance by viewing Muslims as a normative, and even positive, influence in Western politics. Squarely political and transatlantic in scope, the essays in this collected work focus on Islam and Muslim citizens in Europe and the Americas since 9/11, the European bombings, and the recent riots in France. Main topics include Muslim political participation and activism, perceptions about Islam and politics, Western attitudes about Muslim visibility in the political arena, radicalization of Muslims in an age of apparent shrinking of civil liberties, and personal security in politically uneasy times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253002808
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	10/27/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Abdulkader H. Sinno is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. He is author of Organizations at War in Afghanistan and Beyond.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Note on Transliteration xi

1 An Institutional Approach to the Politics of Western Muslim Minorities Abdulkader H. Sinno 1

Part 1 Western Muslims and Established State-Religion Relations

2 Claiming Space in America's Pluralism: Muslims Enter the Political Maelstrom Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad Robert Stephen Ricks 13

3 The Practice of Their Faith: Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany J. Christopher Soper Joel S. Fetzer 35

4 Religion, Muslims, and the State in Britain and France: From Westphalia to 9/11 Jorgen S. Nielsen 50

Part 2 Western Muslims and Political Institutions

5 Muslim Underrepresentation in American Politics Abdulkader H. Sinno 69

6 Muslims Representing Muslims in Europe: Parties and Associations after 9/11 Jytte Klausen 96

7 Muslims in UK Institutions: Effective Representation or Tokenism? Abdulkader H. Sinno Eren Tatari 113

Part 3 Institutional Underpinnings of Perceptions of Western Muslims

8 How Europe and Its Muslim Populations See Each Other Jodie T. Allen Richard Wike 137

9 Public Opinion toward Muslim Americans: Civil Liberties and the Role of Religiosity, Ideology, and Media Use Erik C. Nisbet Ronald Ostman James Shanahan 161

10 The Racialization of Muslim Americans Amaney Jamal 200

Part 4 Western Muslims, Civil Rights, and Legal Institutions

11 Canadian National Security Policy and Canadian Muslim Communities Kent Roach 219

12 Counterterrorism and the Civil Rights of Muslim Minorities in the European Union Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen 245

13 The Preventive Paradigm and the Rule of Law: How Not to Fight Terrorism David Cole 264

14 Recommendations for Western Policy Makers andMuslim Organizations Abdulkader H. Sinno 278

List of Contributors 289

Index 293

What People are Saying About This

"The volume edited by Sinno (Indiana Univ., Bloomington) includes 14 chapters examining state policies toward Muslims, public perception of Muslims, and Muslim political participation in Western (mainly North American and west European) countries. The contributors employ the term 'Muslim' in broadest sense, from a religious affiliation to a cultural or ethnic identity. The book is a combination of social scientific analysis and policy recommendations. Several chapters are critical of Islamophobia and illiberal state policies toward Muslims, in addition to being critical of radical views among Muslims. Some chapters employ in-depth interviews while others use survey data, which leads to the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The book would be enriched if it included deeper textual analyses of major Islamic publications, political documents, and court decisions. Nielsen's chapter, which argues a similarity between French and British policies toward Muslims, neglects the 2004 law on the headscarf ban in France. Soper and Fetzer's and Sinno's chapters include significant comparative analysis, while those of Haddad and Ricks and of Cole are important to understand the US case. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. —Choice"

A. T. Kuru]]>

The volume edited by Sinno (Indiana Univ., Bloomington) includes 14 chapters examining state policies toward Muslims, public perception of Muslims, and Muslim political participation in Western (mainly North American and west European) countries. The contributors employ the term 'Muslim' in broadest sense, from a religious affiliation to a cultural or ethnic identity. The book is a combination of social scientific analysis and policy recommendations. Several chapters are critical of Islamophobia and illiberal state policies toward Muslims, in addition to being critical of radical views among Muslims. Some chapters employ in-depth interviews while others use survey data, which leads to the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The book would be enriched if it included deeper textual analyses of major Islamic publications, political documents, and court decisions. Nielsen's chapter, which argues a similarity between French and British policies toward Muslims, neglects the 2004 law on the headscarf ban in France. Soper and Fetzer's and Sinno's chapters include significant comparative analysis, while those of Haddad and Ricks and of Cole are important to understand the US case. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. —Choice

A. T. Kuru

The volume edited by Sinno (Indiana Univ., Bloomington) includes 14 chapters examining state policies toward Muslims, public perception of Muslims, and Muslim political participation in Western (mainly North American and west European) countries. The contributors employ the term 'Muslim' in broadest sense, from a religious affiliation to a cultural or ethnic identity. The book is a combination of social scientific analysis and policy recommendations. Several chapters are critical of Islamophobia and illiberal state policies toward Muslims, in addition to being critical of radical views among Muslims. Some chapters employ in-depth interviews while others use survey data, which leads to the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The book would be enriched if it included deeper textual analyses of major Islamic publications, political documents, and court decisions. Nielsen's chapter, which argues a similarity between French and British policies toward Muslims, neglects the 2004 law on the headscarf ban in France. Soper and Fetzer's and Sinno's chapters include significant comparative analysis, while those of Haddad and Ricks and of Cole are important to understand the US case. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. —Choice

Drew University - Caitlin Killian

Provides a key comparison of the strategies implemented by various Western nations to deal with issues of cultural pluralism and the challenges of protecting their populations from terrorism.

Editorial Reviews

"This study, a compilation of papers submitted to a September 2005 Indiana University conference, explores the political impact that the growing Muslim minorities in Western Europe and North America have on their host societies. In addition to editor Abdulkader Sinno's introduction and conclusion, the volume contains 12 chapters organized under four broad themes: background studies of different Western countries' Muslim minorities; their representation and integration in the hosts' political system; Western public opinion toward Muslim immigrants; and the post-9/11 era's implications for majority-minority relations. While Sinno cites the Canadian approach with approval, he portrays an often fraught relationship between Western states and their Muslim citizens, and offers a broad range of suggestions for both communities to move towards a genuinely tolerant and integrated society. (HK)"—Hobie Kropp, MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL, Vol. 63, No. 2, Spring 2009

"The volume edited by Sinno (Indiana Univ., Bloomington) includes 14 chapters examining state policies toward Muslims, public perception of Muslims, and Muslim political participation in Western (mainly North American and west European) countries. The contributors employ the term 'Muslim' in broadest sense, from a religious affiliation to a cultural or ethnic identity. The book is a combination of social scientific analysis and policy recommendations. Several chapters are critical of Islamophobia and illiberal state policies toward Muslims, in addition to being critical of radical views among Muslims. Some chapters employ in-depth interviews while others use survey data, which leads to the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The book would be enriched if it included deeper textual analyses of major Islamic publications, political documents, and court decisions. Nielsen's chapter, which argues a similarity between French and British policies toward Muslims, neglects the 2004 law on the headscarf ban in France. Soper and Fetzer's and Sinno's chapters include significant comparative analysis, while those of Haddad and Ricks and of Cole are important to understand the US case. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. —Choice"—A. T. Kuru, Columbia University, August 2009

"Provides a key comparison of the strategies implemented by various Western nations to deal with issues of cultural pluralism and the challenges of protecting their populations from terrorism."—Caitlin Killian, Drew University

From the Publisher

This study, a compilation of papers submitted to a September 2005 Indiana Universityconference, explores the political impact that the growing Muslim minorities in Western Europe and North America have on their host societies. In addition to editor Abdulkader Sinno's introduction and conclusion, the volume contains 12 chapters organized under four broad themes: background studies of different Western countries' Muslim minorities; their representation and integration in the hosts' political system; Western public opinion toward Muslim immigrants; and the post-9/11 era's implications for majority-minority relations. While Sinno cites the Canadian approach with approval, he portrays an often fraught relationship between Western states and their Muslim citizens, and offers a broad range of suggestions for both communities to move towards a genuinely tolerant and integrated society. (HK)

MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL - Hobie Kropp

The volume edited by Sinno (Indiana Univ., Bloomington) includes 14 chapters examining state policies toward Muslims, public perception of Muslims, and Muslim political participation in Western (mainly North American and west European) countries. The contributors employ the term 'Muslim' in broadest sense, from a religious affiliation to a cultural or ethnic identity. The book is a combination of social scientific analysis and policy recommendations. Several chapters are critical of Islamophobia and illiberal state policies toward Muslims, in addition to being critical of radical views among Muslims. Some chapters employ in-depth interviews while others use survey data, which leads to the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The book would be enriched if it included deeper textual analyses of major Islamic publications, political documents, and court decisions. Nielsen's chapter, which argues a similarity between French and British policies toward Muslims, neglects the 2004 law on the headscarf ban in France. Soper and Fetzer's and Sinno's chapters include significant comparative analysis, while those of Haddad and Ricks and of Cole are important to understand the US case. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. —Choice

A. T. Kuru

"Provides a key comparison of the strategies implemented by various Western nations to deal with issues of cultural pluralism and the challenges of protecting their populations from terrorism." —Caitlin Killian, Drew University

Caitlin Killian

This study, a compilation of papers submitted to a September 2005 Indiana University conference, explores the political impact that the growing Muslim minorities in Western Europe and North America have on their host societies. In addition to editor Abdulkader Sinno’s introduction and conclusion, the volume contains 12 chapters organized under four broad themes: background studies of different Western countries’ Muslim minorities;
their representation and integration in the hosts’ political system; Western public opinion toward Muslim immigrants; and the post-9/11 era’s implications for majority-minority relations. While Sinno cites the Canadian approach with approval, he portrays an often fraught relationship between Western states and their Muslim citizens, and offers a broad range of suggestions for both communities to move towards a genuinely tolerant and integrated society. (HK)Hobie Kropp, MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL, Vol. 63, No. 2, Spring 2009

— Hobie Kropp

Middle East Journal