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The Missing British DreamA Fractured Democracy
Faces Muslim Discontent

• Dr. Tom Gallagher
• Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow
• National Endowment for Democracy
• June 5, 2008
• The views expressed in this presentation
  represent the analysis and opinions of the
  speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of
  the National Endowment for Democracy or its
  staff.

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Young British-born Muslims are suspended between
two different worlds that of their elders (imam)
and members of an often extended family
structure, and the one represented by an
intrusive, materialist culture. Such suspension
can result in cultural confusion and
rootlessness, known in sociology as anomie.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that Islamic
fundamentalist preachers and political agitators,
who offer the warm embrace of an international
religious fellowship, can appear inspirational to
young people in emotional turmoil.
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• Muslims in Europe
• The number of Muslims in Europe had risen from a
  few million in 1945 to 15 million in 2000. By
  2006, the number had risen to 20 million.
• If present trends continue, experts predict that
  in 20 years, between a quarter and a third of the
  British population will have been born outside
  the country, and at least a fifth of the native
  population will have emigrated.
• The largest segment of immigrants is Muslim in
  faith. The majority are ordinary Muslims, not
  Islamists. But they are culturally not
  integrated and do not belong to the European
  polity. Bassam Tibi, 2008

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• Muslims in Britain Some Statistics
• 1.6 million (2001 census, an underestimation in
  some eyes)
• 43 originate from Pakistan 17 from
  Bangladesh 9 from India
• They are located in London, Birmingham, and a
  string of northern cities
• At least 50 percent were born in Britain
• 1 in 3 have no educational qualifications, the
  highest percentage for an ethnic group in Britain
• 9 of prisoners in England and Wales are Muslim
• In 2004, Muslims had the highest unemployment
  rate, at 13
• Source Times of London, July 4, 2006

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Informed Engagement Needed

• Islam is compatible with democracy, human rights,
  and civil society, if Muslims want this.
• Britain is an ancient democracy suddenly
  confronted by the politicization of faith.
• The response of mature democracies like Britain
  is crucial If Britain is engaged and empathetic,
  the omens are quite hopeful. But if it is
  negligent or indifferent about strategies for
  integrating Muslims into the wider society,
  problems are likely to mount.
• Ibn Khaldun places the self-consciousness (i.e.
  the asabiyyal/esprit de corps) of a civilization
  as a criterion for its flourishing or decline.
  At the beginning of the 21st century, Europes
  image of itself does not appear to be a promising
  one.

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• Pew Global Attitudes Survey on Muslim Attitudes,
  2006
• Among British Muslims, there was a far more
  negative view of Westerners than Islamic
  minorities elsewhere on the continent.
• A significant majority viewed Western
  populations as selfish, arrogant, greedy, and
  immoral.
• Only 32 of Muslims in Britain had favorable
  opinions of Jews, compared with 71 of French
  Muslims.
• Muslim attitudes in Britain more closely
  resembled public opinion in the Islamic countries
  of the Middle East and Asia, than elsewhere in
  Europe.
• Source http//pewglobal.org/reports/display-php?R
  eportID254

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Bombing of the transport network in London on
July 7, 2005. Executed mainly by British-born
Muslims from the north of England. Fifty-four
dead, including the perpetrators.
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• In July 2006, the Times chose the anniversary of
  the bombings to publish a more detailed survey of
  Muslim attitudes in Britain, comparing them with
  those of the rest of the population.
• Two findings stood out
• 13 considered the bombers to be religious
  martyrs.
• 7 said that suicide attacks on civilians can be
  justified in some circumstances, rising to 16
  for military targets.
• Source The Times, July 4, 2006

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I almost wept when I saw the results How sick
and deluded can you get?How many community
leaders have confronted that alienated 13? How
many are prepared to say - like I do that
suicide bombers are not martyrs who will go
straight to heaven? They are terrorists who,
according to my religious beliefs, will go
straight to hell, and rightly so. Shahid
Malik, MP for Dewsbury, where one of the bombers
grew up. Source The Daily Mail, July 5, 2006
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• Some Light in the Gloom
• Shared attitudes transcending religion and
  ethnicity
• 3/4 of Muslims think Muslims should do more to
  integrate so do 2/3 of non-Muslims.
• Virtually the same proportion of Muslims and
  non-Muslims are offended by public drunkenness
  and by women wearing revealing clothes.
• Nearly nine out of ten Muslims have close
  non-Muslim personal friends.
• Source Kenan Malik, Bad Bargain Made in the
  Mosque, Times of London, July 6, 2006.

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Possible Explanations for the Alienation of
British-Born Muslims
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1) Controversial British military presence in
Muslim countries
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• 2) Socioeconomic Marginalization
• But after breaking down the figures
• 41 of people of Indian-Muslim descent were in
  full-time work, compared with 26 of Pakistanis,
  23 of Bangladeshis, 55 of Hindus, and 43 of
  Sikhs.

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• 3) Discrimination/Racism
• There is a perception that Muslims are under
  siege from state forces and a hostile society.
• Faith Hate Attacks Figures published by the
  crime prosecution service (CPS) for 20052006
  (which covers post-7/7) shows there were
• Only 43 prosecutions for religiously aggravated
  crime, and only 18 related to Muslim victims.
• This represents a fall from 23 Muslim victims in
  20042005.
• One in 400 Jews , compared with 1 in 1,700
  Muslims, are likely to be victims of faith hate
  attacks every year.
• Hindus and Sikhs usually integrate more
  successfully, despite their racial and cultural
  characteristics.

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• 4) Central Importance of Religion for a Minority
  in a Secular Society
• Britain is a hedonistic society, where no
  institution is above criticism.
• The majority of citizens are un-churched.
• In a 2006 survey of 1,000 people (conducted by
  Channel 4), 68 of
• Muslims said that those who insult Islam
  should be arrested and
• prosecuted.
• But the Channel 4 poll presented several big
  contradictions
• 1/2 of its respondents never attended the
  mosque. Perhaps among
• them were large numbers of under 35.
• 34 expressed a preference for living under
  sharia law, compared
• with 23 of those aged 45 or more.
• Source Attitudes to Living in Britain A Survey
  of Muslim Opinion, Channel 4, Dispatches,
  www.imaginate.uk.com/mcco1_SURVEY/Site

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• 5) Sense of Fragmentation or Rootlessness
• Inevitable for a community such as British
  Muslims of South Asian
• descent who are trying to negotiate life in a
  very different society.
• The Channel 4 poll showed that almost 9 out of
  10 Muslims seem
• unsure as to who represents Muslim views in
  the country
• 33 of 1824 year-olds mentioned the mosque,
  compared
• with 10 aged over 45.
• Source Kenan Malik, What Muslims Want, Channel
  4, London 2006.

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Patterns of Emigration and Settlement A
Comparison with the United States
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• Similarities
• Considerable Muslim migration in the last two
  decadesa result of
• globalization.
• Existence of Muslims with a separatist outlook
  Nation of Islam.
• Revival of austere forms of Islam with radical
  political offshoots.
• Controversial Anglo-American state role in the
  Muslim world
• State support for ethno-religious group
  identities as Anglo-centric
• culture begins to retreat.

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• Trans-Atlantic Contrasts
• Muslim migration over a century-old in the U.S.
  (didnt start in U.K. until after 1950)
• Minorities historically treated better in
  Britain than in the U.S.
• American Muslims from diverse places not
  usually preoccupied with the homeland.
• Muslim-Americans typically better-educated and
  more prosperous.
• American society more religious than Britains.
• Existence of the American Dream, standing for
  self-realization and helping to synthesize being
  American and Muslim.
• New American arrivals able to recall their
  ethnic heritage while embracing values of adopted
  society.
• An American ideology overlays society and is
  continually evolving a sense of unity depends
  upon newcomers embracing the principles that gave
  rise to a sustained self-government. Lawrence
  H. Fuchs, The American Kaleidoscope Race,
  Ethnicity and the Civic Culture, Wesleyan
  University Press, Hanover, NH 1990, p. 56.

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• British Identity Vacuum
• Enormous social and economic change accompanied
  by political stagnation (U.S. similarities here.)
• But a core culture was unraveling in Britain
• Britains collective identity flowed from
  institutions that provided stability and safety
  in a violent geographical location
• Parliament
• Protestant religion
• Monarchy
• But
• Britain never began as a country, but rather
  just evolved endlessly though time (Vernon
  Bognador). No founding myths.
• Political continuity masked internal rivalries
  and cleavages
• Class
• National rivalries (first Ireland and now
  Scotland)
• Regional (English North-South divide)
• Disruptive impact of American popular culture?

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August 21, 2006
Pakistanis Find U.S. an Easier Fit Than Britain
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• The British Society Receiving Muslims
• Muslims often have the closest encounter with the
  working-class. Few positive role models exist.
• Manchester football riot, May 16, 2008
• The notion of a British identity (i.e., a sense
  of Britishness) repudiated by educators and the
  media.
• The views of transnational progressives were
  increasingly influential in the Post-1960s laws
  and identities based on the traditions and
  histories of particular countries should be
  replaced by laws and forms of identity that are
  universal.

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The Emergence of Hyper-Individualism
Former Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony
Blair
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• Margaret Thatcher (Prime Minister 1979-90) is
  the symbolic champion.
• She promotes materialist values and enhances
  consumer power.
• Under her, and later under New Labour,
  citizenship erodes It is not based on a clear
  set of rights and duties, transcending sectional
  loyalties.
• Sweeping changes that can transform a densely
  populated island embracing globalization are hard
  to absorb.
• Politics lacks an ethical component.
• Cultural relativism enjoys intellectual
  ascendancy.
• Britishness is rejected, viewed as a contested
  concept even in much state-funded research on
  ethnic minorities.
• Identity politics legitimized first in academia
  and then by state service providers.
• Young people encouraged to explore their own
  cultural and religious heritage for their
  identity.

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• Muslims in Britain After 2000
• Assumption of homogeneity Clerics and a range
  of activists represent the community before the
  state.
• Many Muslims are encouraged to see themselves as
  semi-detached Britons.
• Radicals looks to globalization as a good
  opportunity to rebuild the ummah on a purely
  religious basis.
• Cities assume monocultural appearance, with
  majority and ethno-religious communities failing
  to interact and harboring mutual suspicions.
• Muslims in favour of integration warn against
  establishing forums and agencies dominated by
  religious radicals.

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Why cant Muslims just be Muslims and
participate in civil society as citizens? Why do
we need to have all these forums? They inevitably
bring on board certain types of individuals and
certain groups come with their own agenda and
their own baggage. Its like Mosca said, the
Italian thinker, that its the organized minority
controlling the discourse of the disorganised
majority. Why cant we just be human beings, be
Western citizens of different countries, engaging
with the existing structure, be it through the
political parties or whatever it is that takes
our fancy or wherever it is we feel our niche
lies?Why do we need to have those councils where
again and again they have thrown up the sort of
leadership that young Muslimsfeel inherently
uncomfortable with? Ed Hussain,
interviewed by Zahed Amanullah, My Quarrel Is
with Islamism and not with Islam, altmuslim,
June 3, 2007.
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• Milestones
• 1989 Protests over Salman Rushdies Satanic
  Verses erupt first in Britain (pictured below).
• 2001before 9/11 Riots in northern England
  involve disaffected Muslim youth
• London becomes the global communications hub of
  radical Islamism.

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• Challenges
• Do Muslims find it difficult to practice their
  religion or preserve their culture in a minority
  situation?
• Only those in India are used to being in a
  minority.
• What rights should religion enjoy in the
  political order?
• Strict Muslims contend that secularism is not
  neutral toward religion but instead discriminates
  against persons with deeply held religious
  convictions. Sallah Eddine Ben Abid argues that,
  secularity reduces the relationship between man
  and God to the private sphere and in so doing,
  God is excluded from the organisation of the
  public sphere.
• Gender relations give rise to controversy and
  sometimes acrimony Girls are often depicted as
  the ones who transmit a proper Muslim way of life
  and values to children and therefore hold
  together the family structure.
• Deterritorialization of Islam Borders and
  national allegiances are eclipsed by appeal of
  universal faith with higher moral precepts
• Intra-Muslim tensions Mosques are often an arena
  for petty rivalries and power struggles many
  imams do not speak English or are unfamiliar with
  British life. Radical movements therefore can
  appear a better substitute for idealistic and
  restless young Muslims seeking to define their
  attitude to faith.
• To a lesser extent, the same may be true of the
  clutch of Muslim organizations that have emerged
  in the past dozen years, often with the
  encouragement of the state.

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The Way Ahead Remedies
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Recommendations for the British State

• 1) Foster constructive dialogue about how
  different ethno-religious groups can find a basis
  for co-existence. Family relations in both
  established and recent groups is a neglected area
  of concern.
• 2) Found a new national charter, which provides
  a design for membership in the British
  communityprobably not feasible unless political
  renewal occurs
• Parties no longer integrate citizens, aggregate
  interests, and translate them into public
  policies, organize key institutions of state.
• The disreputable nature of British politics may
  be encouraging the view that Islam can
  provide a more authentic version of democracy
  through the conception of shura (consultation)
  and ijma (consensus).
• 3) Review the efficacy of multi-cultural
  approaches used by educators and service
  providers to engage with new Britons. There is
  growing evidence that these have spawned a
  monocultural set of communities.) Robert Putnam
  argues that all sections of British society need
  to make adjustments for a new national compact to
  succeed. There is the need to design policies
  that alter the balance of forces within minority
  communities, giving the initiative to those in
  favor of integration.

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Policy Areas Where New Approaches Can Strengthen
the Forces of Integration

• Decentralization
• Education
• What is the role of universities for Muslims?
  Is it an arena where increasing numbers become
  radicalized, rather than shedding parochial
  identities and mixing with a cross-section of
  young people?
• Labor market
• Community service
• The revival of a culture of service, exemplified
  by a huge array of voluntary institutions, in
  which individuals display a sense of public
  spirit without wanting anything in return.
• To succeed, these policies should extend beyond
  ethno-religious minorities to other, peripheral
  groups, particularly the white working class in
  depressed areas.

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• Concluding Thoughts
• Michael Lind wrote in the 1990s about America
  having become a multicultural republic based on
  racial preferences and categories in public
  employment, education, and even the drawing of
  electoral boundaries.
• These categories, some of which were artificial,
  gain momentum and meaning, and counter-mobilisatio
  ns can occur (as shown in this exceptionally
  turbulent presidential election season.)
• But a broader narrative, based on the political
  system defending self-reliance and individual
  rights, still enjoys greater appeal. America is
  an ideological democracy, while Britain is an
  organic one based on traditions, many of which
  have been uprooted. There are few strong
  collective attachments underpinning a sense of
  citizenship. This makes the task of integrating
  immigrants more difficult because they are being
  urged in other quarters to make religion the sole
  basis of their identity.