Debating Islam: Negotiating Religion, Europe, and the Self

373 Pages·2014·1.675 MB·English

by  Samuel M. Behloul, Susanne Leunenberger, Andreas Tunger-Zanetti (eds.)

Samuel M. Behloul, Susanne Leuenberger,
Andreas Tunger-Zanetti (eds.)
Debating Islam

global local Islam

Samuel M. Behloul, Susanne Leuenberger,
Andreas Tunger-Zanetti (eds.)
Debating Islam
Negotiating Religion, Europe, and the Self
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Cover layout: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld
Proofread & Typeset: Ursina Marty, Andreas Tunger-Zanetti,
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Printed by Majuskel Medienproduktion GmbH, Wetzlar
ISBN 978-3-8376-2249-2
Contents
Foreword | 9

(cid:2)
Introduction
Samuel M. Behloul | 11

PART I

Rules and roles
Samuel M. Behloul | 39

(cid:2)
Racial grammar and the green menace
David Llewelyn Tyrer | 43

The ambiguity of law and Muslim debates
(cid:2)
about the contextualisation of Islam in France
Frank Peter | 63

(cid:2)
‘Muslim women’ marking debates on Islam
Amélie Barras | 81

Formatting Islam versus mobilising Islam in prison:
Evidence from the Swiss case
Mallory Schneuwly Purdie | 99

The politics of Sikh Islamophobia
Katy P. Sian | 119

PART II

The one facing the many
Susanne Leuenberger | 137

Celtic ancestors and Muhammad’s legacy:
(cid:2)
Types of narratives in a convert’s construction of religiosity
Petra Bleisch Bouzar | 141
The imagining of Muslim converts in Britain by themselves
(cid:2)
and others
Leon Moosavi | 165

“I have become a stranger in my homeland”:
An analysis of the public performance of converts to Islam
(cid:2)
in Switzerland
Susanne Leuenberger | 181

Islamic fields and Muslim techniques of the self
(cid:2)
in a German context
Jörn Thielmann | 203

PART III

The many facing the ‘other’ (within)
Andreas Tunger-Zanetti | 223

Institutionalised Austrian Islam:
(cid:2)
One institution representing the many
Farid Hafez | 227

‘We are in this together’:
How the cartoon crisis changed relations between the Danish state
(cid:2)
and Muslim Danes
Lene Kühle | 243

Basel’s ‘swimming refuseniks’:
A systemic study on how politics observe Muslim claims
(cid:2)
to diversity in state schools
Marius Rohrer | 263

‘Against Islam, but not against Muslims’:
(cid:2)
Actors and attitudes in the Swiss minaret vote
Andreas Tunger-Zanetti | 285

Protecting democracy, misrecognising Muslims?
(cid:2)
An assessment of Swiss integration policy
Matteo Gianni | 313
EPILOGUE

(cid:2)
On relating religion to society and society to religion
Reinhard Schulze | 333

Index | 357

Contributors | 369

Foreword

In the last two decades, and with increased intensity since the key event of 9/11,
Islam has become a dominant concern, structuring national debates on immigra-
tion, integration, democracy, liberalism and secularism Europe-wide. Adapting
an interdisciplinary outlook, this volume presents a comparative analysis of
debates on Islam and Muslims in different West-European national contexts.
Introducing Switzerland as an under-researched object of study to the academic
discussion on Islam in Europe, this volume offers a fresh perspective by putting
recent case studies from diverse national contexts together. We are interested in
scrutinising both the specificity as well as the exemplary test-case nature of its
trajectory in a European comparison.
The research perspectives gathered together in this volume were largely
developed in the course of the international conference “Debating Islam:
Switzerland – Europe” held at the University of Berne during 29th of September
to 1st of October 2011. It was organised co-operatively by a number of members
of the SGMOIK (Schweizerische Gesellschaft Mittlerer Osten und islamische
Kulturen) and the Groupe de recherche sur l’Islam en Suisse (GRIS), and was
financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Swiss
Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Mittelbauvereinigung der
Universität Bern (MVUB) as well as the Bernese Institute of Advanced Study in
the Humanities and the Social Sciences (IASH).
This volume consists of papers discussed during the conference, comple-
mented by fresh contributions from interlocutors and discussants on questions
also raised during the event. The overarching idea that informs this book project
is to bring together case studies on various national Muslim debates and apply a
comparative perspective on Europe and its specific perception of Islam. The
chapters should allow to see similarities and differences between for example the
Danish cartoon crisis and the Swiss anti-minaret campaign, or between the self-