Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Identity and Islamic Radicalization in Western Europe

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 13; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13698249.2011.600000

1743-968X

Syed Mansoob Murshed, Sara Pavan,

Populism, Right-Wing Movements

Abstract This article argues that both socio-economic disadvantage and political factors, such as foreign policy of the West about the Muslim world, along with historical grievances, play a part in the development of Islamic radicalized collective action in Western Europe. We emphasize the role of group identity-based individual behaviour in organizing collective action within radicalized Muslim groups. Inasmuch as culture plays any role at all in radicalization, it is because individuals feel the imperative to act on the basis of their Muslim identity, something to which different individuals will attach varying degrees of salience, depending on how they place their Muslim identity-based actions in the scheme of their multiple identities. We also emphasize the role of the opportunistic politician, from the majority European community, in fomenting hatred for Muslims, which also produces a backlash from radicalized political Islam. We present comparative evidence of socio-economic, political and cultural disadvantage faced by Muslim minorities in five West European countries: Germany, the UK, France, Spain and the Netherlands. Acknowledgements Financial support from the European Union funded EUSECON framework 7 project is acknowledged. Helpful comments from an anonymous referee, an associate editor of this journal and the research assistance of Md. Badiuzzaman are also gratefully recognized. Notes 1. Justin Vaisse, 'Muslims in Europe: A Short Introduction', Brookings US-Europe Analysis Series (2008). 2. Daniel Benjamin, 'The Changing Face of Terror' in M. Perry and H. E. Negrin (eds) The Theory and Practice of Islamic Terrorism: An Anthology (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2008) p.92. 3. See the obituary of Oriana Fallaci in the New York Times 16 Sept. 2006. 4. Interview with Bernard Lewis in the Jerusalem Post 29 Jan. 2007. 5. Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York: Simon and Schuster 1996); Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (London: Phoenix 2003). 6. M. Verkuyten and A. A. Yildiz, 'National (Dis)identification and Ethnic and Religious Identity: A Study Among Turkish-Dutch Muslims', Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 33/10 (2007) pp.1448–62. 7. R. Briggs and J. Birdwell, 'Radicalisation Among Muslims in the UK' in Microcon Working Policy Working Paper 7 (2009). 8. T. Modood, 'Muslims and the Politics of Difference', The Political Quarterly 74/s1 (2003) pp.100–15. 9. Lewis (note 5). 10. Huntington (note 5). 11. Ibid. p.217. 12. A. Sen, 'Violence, Identity and Poverty', Journal of Peace Research 45/1 (2008) pp.5–15. 13. Ted R. Gurr, Why Men Rebel (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1970). 14. F. Stewart, 'Global Aspects and Implications of Horizontal Inequalities: Inequalities Experienced by Muslims Worldwide' in CRISE Working Paper No. 60 (2008), Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity (Oxford: University of Oxford). 15. F. Stewart, 'Crisis Prevention: Tackling Horizontal Inequalities', Oxford Development Studies 28/3 (2000) pp.245–62. 16. Stewart (note 14). 17. John E. Roemer, Equality of Opportunity (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1998). 18. Mahmood Mamdani, Good Muslim, Bad Muslim (New York: Pantheon Books 2004) p.24. 19. Sen (note 12). 20. In the UK, for example, the anti-Muslim Dutch politician Geert Wilders was prevented from showing his anti-Islam film, Fitna, in the British House of Lords in February 2009 on the grounds that it might incite racial hatred; by contrast, his popularity is said to be on the rise in his native Netherlands. 21. < www.pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID = 262>. 22. In Spain, for example, a liberal online newspaper recently accused Prime Minister Zapatero of being willing to turn Spaniards into Muslims for his alleged policy of appeasement towards Muslim communities in the country; see online at < www.espana-liberal.com/20060929-zapatero-nos-volvera-musulmanes.html>. 23. '…We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another – the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct'. Quran: 049.013. 'And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colours'. Quran: 030.022. English translations from Marmaduke Pickthall's, The Glorious Quran, online at < www.islam101.com/quran/QTP/index.htm>. 24. 'Say (O Muhammad): We believe in Allah and that which is revealed unto us and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which was vouchsafed unto Moses and Jesus and the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered'. Quran: 003.084. 25. Consider an excerpt from Muhammad's Last Sermon (c. 632 ): 'An Arab has no superiority over a non Arab nor a non Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black person has no superiority over a white person, nor a white person has any superiority over a black person, except by piety and good action. Indeed the best among you is the one with the best character…', online at < www.themodernreligion.com/prophet/prophet_lastsermon.htm>. 26. Jeremy Salt, The Unmaking of the Middle East: A History of Western Disorder in Arab Lands (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press 2008). 27. Magnus Ranstorp, Understanding Violent Radicalisation: Terrorist and Jihadist Movements in Europe (London: Routledge 2010). 28. Sam Mullins, 'Home-grown Terrorism: Issues and Implications', Perspectives on Terrorism 1/3 (2007). 29. See Robert Pape in < http://jtac.uchicago.edu/conferences/05/resources/pape_formatted%20for%20DTRA.pdf>. 30. International Crisis Group (ICG) Report Middle East/North Africa, Understanding Islamism. (2005). 31. Ibid. 32. Ibid. p.ii. 33. Iyanatul Islam, 'The Political Economy of Islamophobia and the Global Discourse on Islam', Griffith University, Regional Outlook Paper No. 3, 2005. 34. J. J. Escobar Stemmann, 'Middle East Salafism's Influence and Radicalization of Muslim Communities in Europe', The Middle East Review of International Affairs 10/3 (2006) p.1. 35. B. Duncan, 'A Theory of Impact Philanthropy', Journal of Public Economics 88/9–10 (2004) pp.2159–80. 36. G. A. Akerlof and R. E. Kranton, 'Economics and Identity', Quarterly Journal of Economics 115/3 (2000) pp.715–53. 37. Mancur Olson, The Logic of Collective Action (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1965). 38. Akerlof and Kranton (note 36). 39. Olson (note 37). 40. J. Galtung, 'An Editorial', Journal of Peace Research 1/1 (1964) p.98. 41. B. Simon and B. Klandermans, 'Politicized Collective Identity: A Social Psychological Analysis', American Psychologist 56/4 (2001) pp.319–31. 42. Ibid. p.323. 43. Verkuyten and Yildiz (note 6) p.1449. 44. Ibid. 45. Ibid. p.1449. 46. S. M. Murshed and M. Z. Tadjoeddin, 'Revisiting the Greed and Grievance Explanations for Violent Internal Conflict', Journal of International Development 21/1 (2009) pp.87–111. 47. Gurr (note 13). 48. Stewart (note 15). 49. Stewart (note 14). 50. Tony Addison and Mansoob Murshed, 'Transnational Terrorism as a Spillover of Domestic Disputes in Other Countries', Defence and Peace Economics 16/2 (2005) pp.69–82. 51. A. B. Krueger and J. Maleckova, 'Does Poverty Cause Terrorism?', The New Republic 24 (2002) pp.27–33. 52. Ronald Wintrobe, 'Can Suicide Bombers be Rational', in DIW Workshop on Economic Consequences of Global Terrorism (2002). 53. E. L. Glaeser, 'The Political Economy of Hatred', Quarterly Journal of Economics 120/1 (2005) pp.45–86. 54. J. S. Fetzer and J. C. Soper, 'The Roots of Public Attitudes Toward State Accommodation of European Muslims' Religious Practices Before and After September 11', Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42/2 (2003) pp.247–58. 55. Glaeser (note 53). 56. The PEW world surveys indicate that dislike of Muslims in Europe is greater among the older and less educated segments of the population, online at < http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID = 262>. 57. S. M. Murshed, 'On the Salience of Identity in Civilizational and Sectarian Conflict', Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy 16/2 (2010) pp.1–18. 58. B. Franz, 'Europe's Muslim Youth: An Inquiry into the Politics of Discrimination, Relative Deprivation, and Identity Formation', Mediterranean Quarterly 18/1 (2007) pp.89–112. 59. < www.meforum.org/337/islam-in-france-the-french-way-of-life-is-in>, accessed 8 May 2009. 60. < www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/minette_marrin/article589708.ece>, accessed 8 May 2009. 61. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6582479.stm>, accessed 10 May 2009. 62. Franz (note 58) p.102. 63. Ibid. p.100. 64. John Rosenthal, 'The French Path to Jihad' in M. Perry and H. E. Negrin (eds) The Theory and Practice of Islamic Terrorism: An Anthology (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2008) p.188. 65. < http://pewforum.org/publications/reports/muslims-europe-2005.pdf>, accessed 10 May 2009. 66. Stewart (note 14). 67. Pew Forum (note 65). 68. Franz (note 58) p.102. 69. Lorenzo Vidino, 'The Rising Tide of Islamic Raduicalism' in M. Perry and H. E. Negrin (eds) The Theory and Practice of Islamic Terrorism: An Anthology (New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2008) pp.157–66. 70. Franz (note 58) p.102. 71. International Crisis Group (ICG) Report Europe 181, Islam and Identity in Germany (2007). 72. Vidino (note 69) p.158. 73. Franz (note 58). 74. ICG (note 71) p.3. 75. Ibid. p.22. 76. Ibid. 77. There are 25,000 Turkish University students, compared to a population of 235,989 Turkish 18 to 25 year olds. Chinese university students number 27,000, ICG: 2007. 78. European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia EUMC, The Annual Report on the Situation regarding Racism and Xenophobia in the Member States of the EU. 2006, EUMC: Vienna. 79. ICG (note 71) p.30. 80. Ibid. p.3. 81. Pew Forum (note 65). 82. Briggs and Birdwell (note 7). 83. Ibid. 84. Ibid. 85. Fetzer and Soper (note 54). 86. Gallup Foundation, The Gallup Coexist Index 2009: A Global Study of Inter-faith Relations (Washington: Gallup 2009). 87. Pew Forum (note 65) p.6. 88. Pew Research Centre, An Uncertain Road. Muslims and the Future of Europe (2005). 89. Stewart (note 14). 90. Franz (note 58). 91. Briggs and Birdwell (note 7). 92. Franz (note 58). 93. < www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/best-and-worst/best-and-worst-places-to-live-2006-08-06-18_p_1.html>. 94. Stewart (note 14). 95. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4032987.stm>. 96. < www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108473.htm>, accessed 20 May 2009. 97. R. Mehrotra, 'The Looming Shadow of the Crescent: Islam in Spain', Perspectives on Business and Economics 23 (2005) pp.85–95. 98. Pew 2006, 'The Great Divide: How Westerners and Muslims View Eeach Other', online at < http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID = 830>, accessed 10 May 2009. 99. < www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/02/14/espana/1171468241.html>, accessed 10 May 2009. 100. < www.webislam.com/?idn = 5476>, accessed 8 May 2009. 101. < www.webislam.com/pdf/pdf.asp?idn = 549>, accessed 10 May 2009. 102. Mehrotra (note 97). 103. Ibid. 104. Ibid. p.87. 105. Verkuyten and Yildiz (note 6) p.1446. 106. < http://migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id = 2642_0_4_0>, accessed 22 May 2009. 107. G. A. Irwin and J. J. M. Van Holsteyn, 'The 2002 and 2003 Parliamentary Elections in the Netherlands', Electoral Studies 23/3 (2004) pp.551–57. 108. Pew Forum (note 65). 109. Ibid. 110. < www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2009/04/wilders_ideas_enjoy_40_support.php>, accessed 11 May 2009. 111. Stewart (note 14). 112. EUMC (note 78). 113. Stewart (note 14). 114. Ibid. 115. G. Driessen and M. S. Merry, 'Islamic Schools in the Netherlands: Expansion or Marginalization?', Interchange 37/3 (2006) pp.201–23. 116. EUMC (note 78). 117. Z. Strabac and O. Listhaug, 'Anti-Muslim Prejudice in Europe: A Multi-level Analysis of Survey Data from 30 Countries', Social Science Research 37/1 (2008) p.278. 118. Verkuyten and Yildiz (note 6). 119. Ibid. p.1450. 120. John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2007). 121. Akerlof and Kranton (note 36). 122. Simon and Klandermans (note 41) p.325. 123. Ibid. 124. Ibid. p.329.