Professor Arroyo
European Politics
Final Paper
8 May 2013
Integration of Muslims in the European Society
One of the most pressing issues facing the European Union and its member states today is how to handle the integration of Muslims into European society. From the time waves of Muslim immigrants were brought to Europe in the 1950’s to perform low-skill labor, the place of the Muslim community within Europe has been hotly contested. Each individual state is left to its own means on how to integrate Muslims as long as their means do not violate broader European Union rules regarding human rights. The variance of their approaches provides interesting insight into the deeper political and underlying normative structures within each perspective nation. Britain and France provide two of the most fascinating examples, as the stark contrast in their Muslim integration policy allows us to find correlation between government policy and societal interactions.
The Muslim integration debate in Europe is extremely relevant because European societal stability could depend on it. Tensions in Europe between white and Muslim populations are generally poor across the board, and each individual nation is profoundly affected by these relations in their own way. The topic is extremely controversial because there is really no ideal solution to the current tensions. Anytime a cultural “outsider” is introduced to a generally homogenous society in large numbers, values and perspectives are bound to conflict. Several generations after the first waves of Muslim immigrants, Europe has a population of 20 million Muslims. Muslims comprise five percent of the total population of the continent, including ten percent in France and five percent in the United Kingdom. Violent acts such as September 11 and the Underground bombing in London have recently brought tensions between native and Muslim populations in Europe to a boiling point. These events coupled with a perceived threat in the affect graying native European population and overall declining white birthrates coupled with booming Muslim fertility rates have created an extremely sensitive cultural situation in Europe.
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International migration has been on the rise in the recent past and the trend is unlikely to change even in the future. It is estimated that more than 150 million people do not reside in their countries of birth or nationality. This figure is expected to continue rising in the future. Migration is the movement of people from their country of origin to live in another country. Migration can either ...
The issue facing many European nations today is how they plan to bring their Muslim communities to a peaceful balance with the rest of their populations. Racial tensions have always been exceptionally high in Europe when it comes to non-whites. A historical resistance to cultural assimilation within the Muslim culture is another hurdle to jump. Furthermore, Muslim life is dictated by norms and customs that are not considered typically “European” such as abstinence from alcohol and certain religious diet restrictions like abstinence from eating pork.
When it comes to integrating Muslims, there are two general approaches. The first approach is the British path of multi-culturism, which emphasizes cultural individuality and a laissez-faire stance on integration. Assimilation is the opposing approach, characterized by an active government hand in culturally integrating Muslims. Both perspectives have major flaws, but present their own upsides depending on the ideals of the country.
The British multi-culturism policy is based partially in the strong historical role of religion in Britain. Although this religion had always been the church in the past, the underlying theme of religious importance is a serious factor in how they handle Muslim populations. One upside of the British approach to integration is that it encourages tolerance of other religions. Because the British government’s stance is accepting of non-white culture, it is basically conveying the message that the Muslim culture does not pose a threat to traditional British culture. Although many British citizens would disagree, the fact that the government policy officially establishes tolerance as the integral component to good cultural relations is extremely significant. One practical example of British multi-culturism policy is the policy of allowing British-Sikh policemen to wear headdresses on duty.
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The approach also has some serious pitfalls. One of the major criticisms is that multi-culturism may encourage Muslims to develop within their own societies outside of mainstream British culture. UNC’s National Borders Identification Conflict project speaks to this very issue, arguing, “While emphasizing respect for differences of Muslim communities, in placing too much emphasis on individual identities the multiculturalist model gives shelter and opacity to groups that don’t want to integrate into the fold” (Nettleton and Dickey).
This quote is clearly referencing extremism but it also applies in a milder sense to the peaceful majority of the Muslim population. This point is extremely relevant to the debate because it shows that too extreme a focus on identity and cultural individuality can foster development of “parallel societies.” After all, total separation is only a step away from alienation. This dynamic is the biggest downside to British integration policy. All in all, the British approach is dictated by the desire to avoid tensions by not pressing the subject of integration, but is trading off for the de facto cultural tensions these divisions foster by nature.
On the other hand, the French approach is characterized by much more hands-on government involvement in actively trying to integrate Muslim populations. Some scholars cite “France’s strong republican ideals of secularism, fraternity and egalitarianism” as “the base for a policy of assimilation that strongly rejects multiculturalism” (Nettleton and Dickey).
This fact facilitates a much more potentially explosive dynamic in France. These ideals combined with ethnic differences contribute to the general French cultural construction that Islam is a religion of backwards conservative ignorance that’s ideals have long been antiquated yet still perpetuated by the definitive nature of their content.
The Term Paper on European Union Competiton Policy
The European Union (EU) has had a direct and profound effect on the economies of member states. The main objective of the EU is to enhance the allocational efficiency of the economies of the member states by removing barriers to the movement of goods, services, and production . The regulation of competition is administered by the EUs competition policy. The aim of the policy is to create and ...
One example of France’s active integration efforts is the ban on religious headdresses in schools. This places French Muslims in a precarious situation because it is effectively conveying the message of a set standard for French culture that has been defined. Because Muslim traditions lie outside of normative French culture, the burden to assimilate is placed on Muslims. This creates serious tensions because it forces French Muslims to make the extremely difficult decision between abandoning their traditions and values or being effectively relegated to official “outsider” status. The pressures to integrate within this system have caused serious mobilization by both mainstream and extremists Muslim organizations. This includes political Islamists, who are often moderate and more secular and seeking political reform. There is also a small percentage of Jihadi mobilization, meaning extremists who seek to overthrow the Western political order.
The European Union has its own prescriptions of what is acceptable integration policy. Historically, the Union has had little legal ground to dictate national integration policy. Recently, individual nations have accepted the role of the Union in developing a baseline integration policy to set a standard for countries to abide by. This is largely due to the fact that the freedom of movement philosophy within the union means that fallout from poor cultural relations in one country could easily spill over into other nations. The European Union’s 2009 institutional reform “Lisbon Treaty.” The Lisbon Treaty seeks to balance “respect for societal diversity with the definition of clear expectations for immigrants to EU countries” (Congressional Research Service, 2011).
In 2004, the Union adopted 11 basic principles for immigrant integration policy. These principles expressed the importance of “access to employment, education, and public services; protection against discrimination; basic knowledge of the host society’s language, history, and institutions; and immigrant participation in member states’ democratic processes and political decision-making” (Congressional Research Service, 2011) in fostering positive integration policy outcomes. The European Union also established a $1.1 billion Fund for the Integration of Third-Country Nationals for the 2007 to 2013 budget period. This fund allocates resources to programs such as the education of Muslim religious leaders in core Western values and programs that pay for cultural mediators to serve as envoys between immigrant communities and the institutions of their host countries. Although the Union has established general programs and prescription to set the floor of integration standards, the majority of the gritty integration policy choices are left up to the individual state.
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For non-Europeans, the current Muslim integration situation in Europe is easy to overlook, but the fallout from cultural relationships in Europe could have widespread and serious reverberations throughout the rest of the world. The American Department of Defense, one of the country’s most powerful foreign policy and defense organizations, has spent considerable resources analyzing the situations for this very reason. The Department of Defense commissioned a 2007 47 page “long term strategy report” on possible future scenarios of Muslim relations in Europe called, “The Future of Europe and Its Muslims: Four Scenarios” (Grant and Reynolds, 2007).
The report argues, “In most cases it seems safe to assume that the increased European attention to its security and tighter controls on the granting of visas, citizenship, and passports would, on balance, enhance U.S. security” (Reynolds and Grant, 2007).
The fact that the U.S. Department of Defense has taken profound interest in European integration policy is a testament to the high relevance of European Muslim relations to America.
All in all, neither multi-culturism or assimilation policies can be proven superior because both approaches are based in philosophical views. National views on what may or may not constitute “Frenchness” or “Britishness” also play a serious role in the outcome of Muslim integration policy. Personally, I feel that multi-culturism is more successful in spite of the separate communities it fosters. The multi-culturism system reflects my ideals of cultural inclusion and individual freedom. Pushing aside the underlying fears of an Islamic Europe, or “Eurabia,” multi-culturism seems to better protect the identity of the individual. Also, government mandated assimilation always runs the risk of inciting protest or reaction. I feel infringement on expressive or religious freedoms is a slippery slope, and is only appropriate under the most necessary and dire conditions. I understand the intent of the French policy to proactively make Muslims fit in better to French society by assimilating them to French culture; However, I feel in actuality French policies further alienates French Muslims by forcing conditions upon them they are very resistant to.
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When taking all circumstances into account, it is easy to understand why there is no “best solution” to the European Muslim integration debate. The clash of cultures will always result in grievances and conflict on both sides. The integration of Muslims in Europe will be a long and potentially painful process, but there is no avoiding this. The only way to truly “assimilate” such a large and different culture into mainstream white European culture is through the process of time. Focus on nationalism in an ideological and not historical sense could eventually lead to better relations. Until then, there will be no shortage of conflict and tensions within the European Union relative to the integration of Muslims
Works Cited
Caldwell, Christopher. “Big Ideas Live Here.” The New Republic. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2012. <http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/103080/europe-islamist-immigration-islamophobia?page=0,1>.
Ghosh, Palash R. “France’s Muslims: Integration Or Alienation?” International Business Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ibtimes.com/frances-muslims-integration-or-alienation-214382>.
Muslims In the European Union. EUMC. European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia, 2006. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. <http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/156-Manifestations_EN.pdf>.
Nettleton, Caitlin, and Thomas Dickey. “Nations Borders Identities Conflict.” – Integration of Muslims in Europe. University of North Carolina, n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2012. <http://nbiconflict.web.unc.edu/conflicts/integration-of-muslims-in-europe/>.
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United States. Department of Defense. The Future of Europe and Its Muslims. By Michael A. Reynolds and Thomas D. Grant. United States Department of Defens, n.d. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. <http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/International_security_affairs/other/09-F-0759TheFutureOfEuropeAnd_Its_Muslims__Four_Scenarios.pdf>.
United States. U.S. Congress. Congressional Research Service. Muslims in Europe: Promoting Integration and Countering Extremism. United States Congress, 7 Sept. 2011. Web. 4 Nov. 2012. <http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33166.pdf>.