TY - JOUR
T1 - Muslim Dilemmas in the Republic of Ireland
T2 - Anti-Extremism and Self-Regulation in the Context of Super-Diversity
AU - Carr, James
AU - Fanning, Bryan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 University of Birmingham.
PY - 2019/4/3
Y1 - 2019/4/3
N2 - Since the 1990s, a very small Muslim community in the Republic of Ireland has expanded rapidly and become increasingly diverse. For all that research has identified growing expressions of anti-Muslim racism, mainstream Irish political discourse and political responses to Ireland’s Muslim communities have not reflected the antipathy towards Islam that is identifiable in a number of other European countries. The response of the Irish state towards Muslims has been one of apparent neglect, benign and otherwise, whilst Muslims, for their part, appear to have lived unobtrusively. We examine the position of Muslims in Ireland through the lens of three issues that have been debated within Muslim communities in recent years: the alleged threat of terrorist activity within Muslim communities; calls for regulation of Muslim/Islamic activities; and a 2018 controversy relating to comments made by a leading Islamic figure in Ireland on the topic of female genital mutilation. Our analysis, framed by Steven Vertovec’s concept of super-diversity, emphasizes the need for policymakers to avoid presumptions of homogeneity.
AB - Since the 1990s, a very small Muslim community in the Republic of Ireland has expanded rapidly and become increasingly diverse. For all that research has identified growing expressions of anti-Muslim racism, mainstream Irish political discourse and political responses to Ireland’s Muslim communities have not reflected the antipathy towards Islam that is identifiable in a number of other European countries. The response of the Irish state towards Muslims has been one of apparent neglect, benign and otherwise, whilst Muslims, for their part, appear to have lived unobtrusively. We examine the position of Muslims in Ireland through the lens of three issues that have been debated within Muslim communities in recent years: the alleged threat of terrorist activity within Muslim communities; calls for regulation of Muslim/Islamic activities; and a 2018 controversy relating to comments made by a leading Islamic figure in Ireland on the topic of female genital mutilation. Our analysis, framed by Steven Vertovec’s concept of super-diversity, emphasizes the need for policymakers to avoid presumptions of homogeneity.
KW - integration
KW - Ireland
KW - Islam
KW - Islamophobia
KW - Muslims
KW - super-diversity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063726076&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/09596410.2019.1596648
DO - 10.1080/09596410.2019.1596648
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063726076
SN - 0959-6410
VL - 30
SP - 149
EP - 163
JO - Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
JF - Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
IS - 2
ER -