Muslim Dilemmas in the Republic of Ireland: Anti-Extremism and Self-Regulation in the Context of Super-Diversity

James Carr, Bryan Fanning

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)149-163
Number of pages15
JournalIslam and Christian-Muslim Relations
Volume30
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Apr 2019

Keywords

  • integration
  • Ireland
  • Islam
  • Islamophobia
  • Muslims
  • super-diversity

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