Euro-Islam – A Constructivist Idea or a Concept of the English School? EUMA Papers, Vol. 4 No. 12 May 2007

Boening, Astrid B. (2007) Euro-Islam – A Constructivist Idea or a Concept of the English School? EUMA Papers, Vol. 4 No. 12 May 2007. [Policy Paper]

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Abstract

[From the introduction]. “Us against Them”. Is that really the socio-political discourse we want to choose in a region, such as Europe and the Mediterranean? Huntington offered as an approach with “the Other” the one of Clash. Since then not only has fundamentalist Islam been responsible for September 11th but many other terrorist attacks as well all over the world. However, not all Muslims are fundamentalist terrorists. How then can Islam live in peace with Europe1 and vice versa? Bassam Tibi (1999, 16) writes that the socio-political evolution of Europe is closely connected with the appearance of Islam in the Mediterranean region, the fascination and threat it represented and the Medieval crusades in opposition to Jihad (i.e. by definition, the defense of Islam). Since then, neither politics nor socio-cultural studies have found a successful constructive and peaceful approach of dealing with Islam in Europe or the Euro-Mediterranean region-wide.

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