Sara Silvestri

DE/CONSTRUCTING “SUSPECT” COMMUNITIES

Irish and Muslim communities in Britain are, or have often been, constructed negatively in public discourse, where they have been associated with terrorism and extremism. Despite similarities in the experiences of these communities, little comparative research has been conducted. We address this gap by implementing a critical discourse analysis of national and diaspora press coverage of events involving Irish and Muslim communities that occurred in Great Britain between 1974 and 2007. We identified a consensus within the press that “law-abiding” Irish and Muslim people must stand up against “extremists” within their ranks and defend what newsmakers perceive are British values; in this way Irish and Muslim communities are constructed as both inside and outside Britishness. We conclude that the construction of these communities as “suspect” happens mostly in the ambiguity of news discourse, which contributes to fostering a socio-political climate that has permitted civil liberties to be violated by the state security apparatus.

Islam and Religion in the EU Political System

This article examines the increasing relevance of Islam and religion in the institutional arrangement of the EU post-Maastricht and the future policy implications for the complex political system of the EU. By adopting a combination of qualitative methodologies that are theoretically rooted in historical institutionalism and in a systemic view of the EU, the paper studies the emergence of Islam and religion as policy issues in two institutional settings, the European Commission and the European Parliament, during the 1990s and up to the first decade of the twenty-first century. The analysis shows a growing attention to faith communities on the part of the Commission, in the post-Maastricht context, culminating in the elaboration of semi-official avenues for encounter and dialogue with religious groups. It also indicates how, in turn, these semi-official practices and the ideas behind them have gradually imposed themselves upon multiple levels of the EU political system, thus opening up an institutional space in the EU for consultations with and ‘informal policies’ towards faith communities, both within and outside the EU borders.

Social cohesion and the notion of ‘suspect communities’: a study of the experiences and impacts of being ‘suspect’ for Irish communities and Muslim communities in Britain

In this article, we consider how the practice of conceiving of groups within civil society as ‘communities’ meshes with conceptualisations of certain populations as ‘suspect’ and consider some of the impacts and consequences of this for particular populations and for social cohesion. We examine how Irish and Muslim people in Britain have become aware of and have experienced themselves to be members of ‘suspect communities’ in relation to political violence and counterterrorism policies from 1974 to 2007 and investigate the impacts of these experiences on their everyday lives. The study focuses on two eras of political violence. The first coincides with the Irish Republican Armys (IRA) bombing campaigns in England between 1973 and 1996, when the perpetrators were perceived as ‘Irish terrorists’; and the second since 2001, when, in Britain and elsewhere, the main threat of political violence has been portrayed as stemming from people who are assumed to be motivated by extreme interpretations of Islam and are often labelled as ‘Islamic terrorists’. We outline why the concept of ‘suspect communities’ continues to be analytically useful for examining: the impact of ‘bounded communities’ on community cohesion policies; the development of traumatogenic environments and their ramifications; and for examining how lessons might be learnt from one era of political violence to another, especially as regards the negative impacts of practices of suspectification on Irish communities and Muslim communities. The research methods included discussion groups involving Irish and Muslim people. These demonstrated that with the removal of discourses of suspicion the common ground of Britains urban multiculture was a sufficient basis for sympathetic exchanges.

Constructing ‘suspect’ communities and Britishness: Mapping British press coverage of Irish and Muslim communities, 1974–2007

There exist many parallels between the experiences of Irish communities in Britain in the past and those of Muslim communities today. However, although they have both been the subject of negative stereotyping, intelligence profiling, wrongful arrest and prejudice, little research has been carried out comparing how these communities are represented in the media. This article addresses this gap by mapping British press coverage of events involving Irish and Muslim communities that occurred between 1974 and 2007. The analysis shows that both sets of communities have been represented as ‘suspect’ to different degrees, which the article attributes to varying perceptions within the press as to the nature of the threat Irish and Muslim communities are thought to pose to Britain. The article concludes that a central concern of the press lies with defending its own constructions of Britishness against perceived extremists, and against abuses of power and authority by the state security apparatus.

EU Relations with Islam in the Context of the EMP's Cultural Dialogue

Starting from the awareness that Islam is both an internal and an external crucial factor the EU has come to deal with at the turn of the century, this article examines recent EU attitudes and initiatives towards Islam and Muslims with a focus on the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (EMP). In this context, particular attention is given to the increased international concern with the development of its third basket, the one devoted to cultural and social exchanges across the Euro-Mediterranean space.

Faith intersections and Muslim women in the European microcosm: notes towards the study of non-organized Islam

Abstract Faith and religiosity remain elusive objects of analysis for the social sciences, as individualization and non-hierarchical religions grow. This methodological article demonstrates the possibility of researching in depth these subjects while abandoning traditional categories such as institutions, prescriptions, organizations, and authorities, foregrounding instead a more subjective focus, incorporating a comparative, cross-national dimension. Theoretical and methodological considerations arise from the genesis and select findings of a qualitative interdisciplinary study exploring Muslim women in contemporary Europe. Involving 132 participants in five countries, the project explores intersections between everyday concerns, lived experiences and conceptualizations of faith, beyond the traditional ‘performance’ of religion. Attention is drawn to the fluidity of religious adherence, the effect of national cultural-political imaginaries, and the spiritual and intellectual efforts involved in ‘living religion’, and in making it a resource for individual agency.