Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship: A European Approach

This informative collection investigates the European dimension of multiculturalism and immigration. It argues that political theory discourse of multiculturalism and resulting EU policies assume an interpretation of liberalism developed chiefly from the American experience, and that this issue must be addressed as the European experience is entirely different (with the main influx being non-white, ethnic and religious groups challenging liberalism and existing notions of citizenship).

Presenting a fresh and unique perspective of multiculturalism and citizenship in Western Europe today, this book offers a comparative series of national case studies by a diverse range of leading scholars that together provide a theoretical framework for the volume as a whole. The contributors investigate the extent to which we can talk about a common Europe-wide multiculturalism debate, or whether here too there is a Europe of two (or more) gears, in which some countries address multicultural claims swiftly whilst others lag behind, busy with more basic issues of immigrant acceptance and integration.

Comprehensive and interdisciplinary, this text is essential reading for advanced undergraduates, researchers and policy makers interested in immigration, multiculturalism, European integration, Islamic studies and ethnicities.

Tariq Modood is Professor of Sociology, Politics and Public Policy and the founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the University of Bristol, UK. His latest publications include Multicultural Politics: Racism, Ethnicity and Muslims in Britain (Minnesota and Edinburgh University Presses, 2005). Anna Triandafyllidou is Senior Research Fellow at ELIAMEP and Professor at the College of Europe in Bruges. She is the co-editor of Europeanisation, National Identities and Migration (Routledge, 2003). Ricard Zapata-Barrero is Professor of Political Theory at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona (Spain). His most recent publications include: Multiculturalidad e inmigración (Madrid: ed. Síntesi, 2004).