Multiculturalism and Liberalism: the Answer to the Muslim Question in Europe?

Multiculturalism and Liberalism: The Answer to the ‘Muslim Question’ in Europe?

 

Mohammad Merah- a French Algerian young man-went on a killing spree , in the month of March, 2012 and killed French soldiers and Jewish civilians . This is now followed by an incident where a kosher shop was bombed near Paris. The alleged attacker, Jeremy Loius Sydney- a French citizen of Caribbean birth and intriguingly and curiously a convert to Islam has been killed by the French security forces. A nation wide manhunt has been instituted by the French authorities in an attempt to break terror networks in France. The French Prime Minister, Francois Hollande, has, after the incident said that, ‘the state is totally mobilized to fight all terror threats’. He, at the same time, has publicly stated France should –the home to the largest Muslim diaspora- should be careful and not stigmatize Muslims living in France.

 

These incidents and the ones preceding these and the states responses raise a set of salient questions: Why do these incidents of terror occur in France and more broadly Europe? Why are the perpetrators usually Muslim (converts or otherwise)? Do these acts stem from deep alienation of Muslim immigrants from their European host societies? What accounts for this? Is the European approach towards globalized Islam to be blamed?  Is this approach short termist and narrow?Or is it Islam that is the culprit? How can these incidents and the broader threat of terrorism in Europe be averted? Would taking cues from the Anglo Saxon in dealing with globalized Islam help and should Europe adopt these models?

 

The incidence and occurrence of these ghastly incidents in European societies is no surprise. Europe, barring the United Kingdom, has historically been hostile or cold to the outsider. This is a peculiarly European disease and more salient in France. The outsider (or the immigrant) in Europe never really feels part and parcel of European society and this is made clear to him/her in quotidian life. Poignancy is added to this feeling of exclusion by the assimilative straitjacket imposed on immigrants leaving no space or room for erstwhile cultural affiliations and roots. This is then overlaid by racism and prejudice toward the immigrant. Again, this is a European disease.

 

Social exclusion is followed by exclusion from labor markets and the immigrant is usually forced to rely on welfare systems. This creates a negative feedback loop wherein the immigrant, individually retreats into himself, withdraws from host society and collectively immigrants retreat into ghettos. Criminality and other insalubrious activity follows and mutual stereotypes  are formed and validated once this psychological and then the physical gulf sets in.

 

It is perhaps all about identity, culture and politics. The immigrant seeks an alternate identity and bonding mechanisms in an attempt to reclaim his/her culture as a reaction against the misdemeanors and attitudes of the host society. Criminality, in this schema, is not mere criminality but a supremely political act.   The question is why the perpetrators of criminal and terrorist acts Muslims are or converted Muslims?

 

The answer has nothing to do with Islam but the connotations and other negative associations associated with Islam in the contemporary world. A return to  Islam for the Muslim immigrant constitutes a reassertion of his/her lost self and given that Islam is associated with militancy these days, the immigrant makes a supreme act of rebellion against the host society by ‘returning to his faith’. For the convert, it offers an easy way and means to assert himself and an alternative identity that assuages his/her deep fears and concerns. In short, it is all about assertion of the self in an alien milieu and articulated in a negative idiom.

 

The question then is how can these incidents and their broader ramifications be obviated? The answer lies in rejigging the paradigms that inform European immigrant, social and assimilation policy. This may mean adopting a modest and truncated form of multiculturalism that gives and accords space to an immigrant’s ‘original’ culture and identity without according immigrants group rights. This should be followed by a policy of inclusion-social and economic-wherein the immigrant feels valued and becomes a  productive member of society. Or in short, an inclusive model of citizenship needs to be inculcated and practiced. Models of this exist in the Anglo Saxon and Anglo phone world-the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia. Europe could take cues from these models and incorporate them into its policy making grid and framework. It is then that alienation can be reduced to a bare minimum and social peace achieved.

 

Relying on the blunt instruments of state power is a non starter. It will only lead to more disaffection and alienation. Globalized Islam can be accommodated within the western firmament. The experience of the Anglo phone west is a classic example and reminder of this. All it needs is a firm resolve to integrate the outsiders-especially Muslims-into host societies in a manner that is prudent and fair.  Multiculturalism and liberalism may be the best antidotes to alienation and disaffection and the attendant social peace and amity.A lot is at stake here. Let Europe and France introspect deep and hard and come up with policy and social paradigms that redound positively to all.