Muslim Minorities in Europe and India: Politics of Accommodation of Islamic Identities

Since the late 20th century, the issue of accommodation of religious minorities within the structure of nation-states has been a subject of intense discussions among scholars and policy makers across the world. Most societies and nation-states in the world are either experiencing strains in accommodating the social, economic, and political concerns of minority communities or facing difficulties in managing majority-minority relationship. More than any other community, it is the integration of minority Muslim communities that has been the subject of global debates and deliberations, particularly in the western hemisphere. The emergence of political radicalism within some sections of Muslim communities in the West, and a series of terrorist attacks, has further compounded this problem. These developments have reinforced the pervasive thinking among a large section of non-Muslim host societies that Islam suffers from structural deficiencies for a meaningful integration in the host societies. This edited volume is a collection of 14 scholarly articles including an introduction, which deals with the problem of accommodation of Muslim minority communities in the European and Indian contexts. It interrogates the notion of modernity, Muslim modernity, secularism, pluralism and multiculturalism in both European and Indian settings. Linkages of religion, ethnicity, and politics for the integration of Muslim minorities within the structure of a nation-state are also explored in a cross-cultural comparative framework.