Europe and the Muslims: Debating the Foundations of State Policy
https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-146-174
EDN: LPKOWM
Abstract
This article discusses theoretical issues behind the current shift in the policy of European states towards Islamic communities. The shift: is driven by the idea that the values of political Islam are incompatible with Western values; that the main driver behind radicalization is ideology and that even non-violent Islamists gradually prepare the Muslim youth to embracing violence. Based on current academic discussions as well as the results of the author's own research, the author concludes that the opponents of these ideas have serious counterarguments. In their views, radicalization can be explained by a wide range of different factors. Violent and non-violent Islamists compete for the audience, and therefore, not only can non-violent Islamists embrace jihadist views but also, vice versa, some jihadists can change their position to non-violence. Moreover, Muslim values, as well as those of the Islamists, are not necessarily antagonistic in all their aspects with the values of Western democracies. Various theoretical approaches form the basis for an alternative program of practical measures that could be implemented in the future.
About the Author
Irina Starodubrovskaya
Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
References
1. Alexander, A.S., Welzel, Ch. (2011) "Islam and Patriarchy: How Robust Is Muslim Support for Patriarchal Values?", International Review of Sociology 21(2): 249-276.
2. Atran, S. (2016) Razgovarivaia s vragom. Religioznyi ekstremizm, sviashchennye tsennosti i chto znachit byt chelovekom [Talking to the enemy: Religious extremism, sacred values and what it means to be human]. Moscow: Kar'era press.
3. Bartlett, J., Birdwell, J., King, M. (2010) The Edge of Violence. London: DEMOS.
4. Bayat, A. (2007) Making Islam Democratic. Social Movements and the Post-Islamist Turn. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
5. Cameron, J. (2011) "PM's speech at Munich Security Conference", UK Government, 05.02.2011 [https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pms-speech-at-munich-security-conference, accessed on 14.03.2021].
6. Esposito, J., Voll, J. (2001) "Islam and Democracy", Humanities 22(6) [http://www.artic.ua.es/biblioteca/u85/documentos/1808.pdf].
7. Esposito, J.L. (2011) Rethinking Islam and Secularism. The ARDA.
8. Esposito, J.L., Voll, J.O. (1996) Islam and Democracy. N.Y.: Oxford University Press.
9. Farooq, M.O. (2002) Islam and Democracy: Perceptions and Misperceptions [https://web.archive.org/web/20090421082743/http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/writings/islamic/democracy.htm, accessed on 14.03.2021].
10. Ignatenko, A. (2003) "Raskolotaia Umma v ozhidanii sudnogo dnia (Novyi vzgliad so starykh pozitsii)" [Divided Ummah in an expectation of Judgment day (a new view from old positions)], Otechestvennye zapiski 5 [https://strana-oz.ru/2003/5/raskolotaya-umma-v-ozhidanii-sudnogo-dnya, accessed on 14.03.2021].
11. Juergensmeyer, M. (2020) "Does Religion Cause Terrorism?", Terrorism: Its Past, Present & Future Study, A Special Issue to Commemorate CSTPV at 25. Contemporary Voices: St Andrews Journal of International Relations 1(1): 62-65.
12. Khalil, J., Horgan, J., Zeuthen, M. (2019) "The Attitudes-Behaviors Corrective (ABC) Model of Violent Extremism", Terrorism and Political Violence.
13. Koehler, D. (2017) Understanding Deradicalization. Methods, Tools and Programs for Countering Violent Extremism. London and N.Y.: Routledge.
14. Kundnani, A. (2009) Spooked! How Not to Prevent Violent Extremism. London: Institute of Race Relations.
15. Lambert, L. (2011) Countering Al-Qaeda in London: Police and Muslims in Partnership. London: Hurst & Company.
16. Lynch, M. (2010) "Jihadis and Ikhwan", in A. Moghadam, B. Fishman (eds) Self-Inflicted Wounds: Debates and Divisions within Al-Qa'ida and its Periphery, pp. 155-182. Westpoint: Combating Terrorism Centre at Westpoint.
17. McCauley, C., Moskalenko, S. (2008) "Mechanisms of Political Radicalization: Pathways Toward Terrorism", Terrorism and Political Violence 20(3): 415-433.
18. McCauley, C., Moskalenko, S. (2017) "Understanding Political Radicalization: The Two-Pyramids Model", American Psychologist 72(3): 205-216.
19. Norris, P., Inglehart, R. (2002) "Islamic Culture and Democracy: Testing the ‘Clash of Civilizations' Thesis", Comparative Sociology 1(3): 253-263.
20. Norris, P., Inglehart, R. (2011) Sacred and Secular. Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge: University Press. 2nd edition.
21. Pain, E.A. (2016) "Islamizm: socialno-politicheskaia sush'nost i noviye ugrozi dlia Rossii" [Islamism: socio-political essence and the new threats for Russia], Obshestvennye nauki i sovremennost 5 [http://ecsocman.hse.ru/data/2018/11/18/1251871200/115-127%20%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BD.pdf, accessed on 14.03.2021].
22. Roy, O. (2004) Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah. New York: Columbia University Press.
23. Roy, O. (2017) "Who are the new jihadis?", The Guardian, 13.04.2017 [https://www.the-guardian.com/news/2017/apr/13/who-are-the-new-jihadis, accessed on 14.03.2021].
24. Sageman, M. (2008) Leaderless Jihad: Terror Networks in the Twenty-first Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
25. Sageman, M. (2016) "The Turn to Political Violence in the West", in R. Coolsaet (ed.) Jihadi Terrorism and the Radicalization Challenge: European and American Experiences, pp. 117-129. London and New York: Routledge. 2nd edition.
26. Schmid, A.P. (2013) Radicalization, De-Radicalization, Counter-Radicalization: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review. Research Paper. The Hague: ICCT.
27. Schmid, A.P. (2014) Violent and Non-Violent Extremism: Two Sides of the Same Coin? Research Paper. The Hague: ICCT.
28. Silber, M.D., Bhatt, A. (2007) Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown threat. N. Y.: New York City Police Department.
29. Smock, D. (2002) Islam and Democracy: Special Report. Washington D.C.: United States Institute of Peace. [https://www.usip.org/publications/2002/09/islam-and-democracy, accessed on 14.03.2021].
30. Starodubrovskaya, I. (2019) "Krizis traditsionnoi severokavkazskoi sem'i v postsovetskii period i ego sotsialnye posledstviia" [The crisis of the traditional North Caucasus family in the post-soviet period and its social consequences], Zhurnal issledovaniy socialnoy politiki 17(1): 39-56.
31. Starodubrovskaya, I., Lazarev, E., Varshaver, E. (2017) "Tsennosti dagestanskih musulman: chto pokazal opros" [Values of dagestani muslims: what has the survey shown], Kavkazskii uzel [https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/itogi_oprosa_naselenia_Dagestana/, accessed on 14.03.2021].
32. Starodubrovskaya, I., Sitkevich, D. (2018) "Tsennosti vaynakhov-musulman: rezultati oprosa" [Values of vainakh Muslims: survey results], Kavkazskii uzel [https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/itogi_oprosa_vaynahov_musulman/, accessed on 14.03.2021].
33. Varshaver, E., Starodubrovskaya, I. (2017) "Kto i pochemu v Dagestane opravdivayet nasiliye? Sravnitelniy analiz tsennostnih profiley dagestanskih islamskih religioznih grup" [Who justifies violence in Dagestan and why? A comparative analysis of value profiles of muslim religious groups in Dagestan], Gosudarstvo, religiya, tserkovf v Rossii I za rubezhom 3(35): 202-233.
34. Vermeulen, F. (2014) "Suspect Communities - Targeting Violent Extremism at the Local Level: Policies of Engagement in Amsterdam, Berlin, and London", Terrorism and Political Violence 26(2): 286-306.
35. Voll, J.O. (2005) "Islam and democracy: Is Modernization a Barrier?", in Sh.T. Hunter, H. Malik (eds) Modernization, Democracy and Islam, pp. 82-97. Westport: Praeger Publishers.
Review
For citations:
Starodubrovskaya I. Europe and the Muslims: Debating the Foundations of State Policy. State, Religion and Church in Russia and Worldwide. 2021;39(1):146-174. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2021-39-1-146-174. EDN: LPKOWM
Views:
1
Email this article 