Timothy Peace

European social movements and Muslim activism : another world but with whom?

List Of Tables List Of Abbreviations Acknowledgements Introduction. Muslims And Social Movements In Europe 1. The Development Of The Alter-Globalisation Movement 2. Muslim Political Participation And Mobilisation In Britain And France 3. Muslim Participation In The Alter-Globalisation Movement 4. Motivations For Participating In The Movement 5. Reactions To Muslim Participation 6. Outcomes And Consequences Of Muslim Participation Conclusion. The Future Of Muslim Political Activism In Europe Notes Bibliography Index

Un antisémitisme nouveau? The debate about a 'new antisemitism' in France

ABSTRACT Nowhere has the debate about a ‘new antisemitism’ been as fierce and relevant as in France. In recent years this country has witnessed high recorded levels of antisemitism, prompting many commentators to claim the existence of an anti-sémitisme nouveau. Something has indeed changed, at least in terms of the nature, frequency and perpetrators of antisemitic violence in France. Previously connected exclusively to the extreme right, it has now also become associated with a group that is itself a victim of discrimination: ethnic minority youths living in the poor suburbs (banlieues). Peace first discusses and explains the statistics produced by the French watchdog on racism and antisemitism as well as the effects of the Middle East conflict. He then traces the debate on this ‘new antisemitism’ in the French context, contrasting the views of the labels promoters and opponents. He argues that, while antisemitism has undoubtedly evolved, the ‘new’ label is effectively erroneous as it fuses supposedly leftist and ‘Muslim’ antisemitism into one entity when they are not necessarily linked. In addition, he offers vital clarification of the distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism along with suggestions for further research.

Biraderi, Bloc Votes and Bradford: Investigating the Respect Party's Campaign Strategy

Research Highlights and Abstract This article Contributes to theoretical debates on minority political participation in the UK, with specific reference to inter-generational variations within the South Asian Muslim community; Contributes to the scholarly literature on the impact and effectiveness of new political parties within the British political system, through a case study of the Respect Party; Adds to empirical primary data on strategies adopted by political parties in courting specific sections of the ethnic minority vote in the UK; Offers an empirically-led demonstration of the changes taking place within the political sphere of South Asian Muslim diasporas in Britain. In March 2012, the Respect Party won an unexpected by-election in the British city of Bradford, previously regarded as a safe Labour seat. This article examines the partys campaign strategy and in particular how it courted South Asian Muslim voters. A dominant feature of South Asian Muslim politics in the UK has been community bloc voting along lines of kinship (biraderi). The use of kinship networks for political gain effectively disenfranchised many young people and women. We demonstrate how Respect used their experience of campaigning in constituencies with significant numbers of South Asian Muslim voters to achieve an unlikely victory in Bradford. A key strategy was to mobilise otherwise politically marginalised sections of the South Asian Muslim community by offering an alternative to the culture of patronage in Bradford whilst at the same time utilising certain community structures in order to gain their own bloc votes.

Book Review: Sadek Hamid, Sufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic ActivismSufis, Salafis and Islamists: The Contested Ground of British Islamic Activism by HamidSadek. London: I.B. Tauris, 2016. 224pp., £56.00 (h/b), ISBN 9781784532314

themselves publicly from their previous advocacy, others remained openly unrepentant and a few even reconsidered their beliefs and renounced their earlier views. With this book, Griffiths concludes a monumental examination of the engagement of the British far right with the Third Reich, one that has been over four decades in the making. It is a worthy complement to his previous volumes and one that shatters many of the myths about the triumph of patriotism over ideology that have sometimes been fostered both during the war and afterward. This is a book that should be read by anyone seeking to understand better the history of the extreme right in Britain and the role that the Second World War played in shaping its development. While unlikely to be the final word on the subject, like its predecessors, it will serve as the first one for years to come.

Muslim Participation in the Alter-Globalisation Movement

This chapter provides an outline of the history of the participation of Muslims in both Britain and France within the alter-globalisation movement. In order to make sense of the chapters that follow, it is necessary to have an understanding of the nature and extent of Muslim participation within this movement. From a historical perspective, this chapter continues the narrative of Muslim participation that was started in Chapter 2 and takes us from the late 1990s through to 2012. Particular focus is given to the ESFs that took place in Paris in 2003 and London in 2004, a period which could be described as the high point of both the movement and Muslim involvement within it. In fact, despite being numerically marginal, Muslim activists made an important impact on the movement (Peace 2008). In the first section of this chapter, I recount how French Muslim activists started working with figures on the French left who later became leading actors in the alter-globalisation movement, as well as the unsuccessful attempt by Tariq Ramadan and his Presence Musulmane network to establish formal links with ATTAC. I conclude this section with a description of the preparation for the ESF that took place in Paris and its suburbs and the contribution of Muslim activists to this event.

Motivations for Participating in the Movement

This chapter examines the reasons why Muslims decided to participate in the alter-globalisation movement and the ‘supply and demand’ factors related to this (Klandermans 2004). It is therefore a study of the micro-mobilisation context, the settings ‘in which processes of collective attribution combined with rudimentary forms of organization produce mobilization for collective action’ (McAdam 1988: 134). Sometimes, mobilisation is facilitated by membership of pre-existent political groups such as unions; in other occasions, it may be the result of friendship or other informal networks. Examining the biographical experiences of the activists in this study will allow us to understand why they decided to participate in the movement. This forms part of the demand side, and the first section of this chapter therefore looks at the social and political background of the Muslim activists who became involved in the GJM and how this compares with other activists in the movement. Personal experiences may, however, not suffice in order to explain the development of what Doug McAdam calls an ‘insurgent consciousness’. External influences may also be required and the second section looks at some of the potential intellectual inspiration produced by Muslim thinkers who have attempted to encourage Muslims to participate in movements for social change such as the GJM (supply side).

Reactions to Muslim Participation

This chapter attempts to explain the reactions of organisations within the alter-globalisation movement to Muslim involvement. As we have seen in Chapter 3, the strategies adopted by alter-globalisation SMOs in light of Muslim participation differed greatly between the two countries under study. The first section of this chapter attempts to provide an explanation of why this was the case. Generally speaking, we can characterise the reaction of French activists and movement leaders as at best apprehensive and at worst openly hostile. This is in spite of the fact that ATTAC was seeking to expand and attract new adherents, especially those from the poorer suburbs. In GR, on the other hand, and among the majority of other British activists, attitudes to Muslims were more open and welcoming. Muslim activists were even actively recruited to the steering committee of both GR and the StWC. Some activists within the movement attributed the negative reactions in France to racism and xenophobia. This is an unsatisfactory explanation as we are discussing people who place themselves on the political left who would probably define themselves as anti-racists. Koopmans et al. (2005) noted that there are two basic conceptions of anti-racism, universalism and differentialism, which are linked to the ‘philosophies of integration’.

Outcomes and Consequences of Muslim Participation

This chapter attempts to explain the different outcomes of Muslim participation within the alter-globalisation movement. In particular, I look at why Muslim activists could form an electoral alliance with the radical left in Britain but not in France.1 How did political opportunities affect the transition from involvement in social movements to participation in elections? In order to answer this question, I have adopted the explanatory model employed by Odmalm and Lees (2006), who studied migrant movements in Sweden and the Netherlands and their entry into electoral politics by comparing political opportunity structures.2 These should not be thought of as creating rigid conditions which social movements and activists cannot do anything about. They are ‘not deterministic in their effect at all bur rather provide the settings for political agency’ (Odmalm and Lees 2006: 2). They help us understand why some outcomes may be more likely than others but should not be confused with hard-and-fast ‘rules’. The formation of the Respect coalition in Britain was, in many ways, an unexpected outcome of Muslim participation in social movements. However, French activists also cited entry into electoral politics as a political aim (some even seeing Respect as a kind of model). Why, then, were British Muslim activists able to form this electoral alliance with other elements of the radical left while French Muslims struggled to do the same? Related to this, why do French left-wing parties refuse to select Muslim activists as candidates in elections?

Introduction: Muslims and Social Movements in Europe

This book is about the participation of Muslim activists within the alter-globalisation movement, the worldwide social movement against neo-liberalism characterised by the slogan ‘Another world is possible’. Muslim participation in this movement was marked by contrasting reactions on either side of the English Channel. On the whole, Muslims were welcomed and encouraged in Britain by other activists and leaders in the movement. Yet, in France they largely faced incomprehension and hostility. The subtitle of the book (Another World but with Whom?) is a reference to this apprehension and paraphrases a newspaper article published in 2004 in which Muslim involvement in the movement was questioned by the leader of France’s most well-known anti-racist organisation SOS Racisme.1 Muslim participation in the alter-globalisation movement was therefore a contentious issue in France which even attracted some national media interest. The reference to a religious identity posed a dilemma for some in the movement in Europe, while for others this constituted an opportunity. In fact, the levels of participation, the reactions to it and the eventual outcomes were all very different in the two countries studied. This book explains why and explores how progressive social movements, traditionally populated by secular left-wing activists, deal with religious pluralism and the novel reality of those who identify as Muslims.

Conclusion: The Future of Muslim Political Activism in Europe

This book has investigated how social movements react to religious pluralism by using the example of the participation of Muslims in the alter-globalisation movement. It has first looked at the role of religion in encouraging participation in social movements. While it may be true that faith can play an important role in social movement activism, this research suggests that we should not overestimate the role of religion. It should not be assumed that religious activists are primarily motivated by their faith. The information presented in Chapter 4 showed that this was not a strong explanatory factor for the involvement of Muslim activists in the alter-globalisation movement. Their activism was more conditioned by their life experiences, educational background, political affiliation with the left and previous involvement in progressive causes and organisations such as NGOs. Activists may, in fact, be inclined to interpret their religion in line with their existing political views. The arrival of Tariq Ramadan in the mid-1990s in France was important not because he told Muslims to get involved in political activism but because he showed how Islamic values could be found in the activism that they were already involved in.