Muslims and the State in the Post-9/11 West: Introduction

Abstract

Recent events have layered a security dimension on top of pre-existing concerns about Muslim integration in liberal democracies. The contributions to this collection address four central themes related to the emerging interactions between Muslims and states in contemporary Europe and North America: the timing of the securitisation trend in these countries; the types of state policy being produced; the effectiveness of different policies in managing the security and social challenges perceived by state actors; and the identification of relevant Muslim actors and their views on recent state policy developments. This introduction gives an overview of the authors’ positions in these discussions, highlighting points of convergence as well as areas of contention.

Keywords:

• Muslims
• Immigrants
• Integration
• Policy-Making
• Europe

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Middlebury College—and in particular the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs—for the funding, staffing and support to host the conference from which the contributions to this collection have been drawn.

Notes

1. A select, but necessarily incomplete, list includes Abdo (2006); Bowen (2007); Cesari (2004); Fetzer and Soper (2005); Haddad (2002); Haddad and Smith (2002); Hunter (2002); Kepel (1997, 2004); Klausen (2005); Laurence and Vaisse (2006); Maréchal et al. (2003); Modood (2005); Muñoz (1999); Nonneman et al. (1996); Roy (2004); Vertovec and Peach (1997).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Erik Bleich

Erik Bleich is Associate Professor of Political Science at Middlebury College