Islam between Culture and Politics

Islam between Culture and politics

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As nationalist feelings increase amidst the population and in the political discourse, the values that promote the nation-state acquire, through ritualistic acts of belonging, an aura of sanctity, essential to the individual and collective identity of the citizens. Religion in the social curriculum: Islam in the Netherlands. In this section, we will refer to the form in which religion, helped by the preoccupation with immigration, becomes politicized in the articulation of a social curriculum.

The multicultural tragedy , a phrase coined by the publicist Scheffer in his influential article that appeared in national communication media, is probably the best description of how the Muslim and the theme of Islam are perceived and dealt with. The basic assumption is that of an incompatibility between Western and Islamic values. However, that was not something new in Dutch national politics.

The same stance was freely adopted by influential politicians such as Bolkenstein, the leader of the Popular Party for Freedom and Democracy Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie , VVD , of a liberal streak, already in the early s. By the end of the s, the relation between the incompatibility of cultures and a sociocultural drama was predicted, and perhaps up to a point it was created as a possibility in the conference by Paul Schnabel, the director of the Social and Cultural Planning Bureau Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau , SCP , a national research agency, who was of the opinion that the integration of immigrants might not work.

Islam as a theme of open controversy and political debate came to light with Pim Fortuyn, the charismatic leader of Livable Rotterdam Leefbaar Rotterdam , LR , the populist right wing party. This discoursed was based on the polarization between native Dutch and immigrants, and on the active promotion of Islam as the main problem, since Islam was a backward culture. The main hypothesis was that nonintegrated Muslim immigrants were the chief problem of the Netherlands, their presence and attitude posed a danger to the achievements and pleasures of the West.

The achievement of the LR was to become the most important party in the city of Rotterdam in the period between and After Fortuyn's assassination in , the LR continue to advance a political agenda with the central theme of Islam.

The problem of Islam is defined as the existing tension between its values and norms and those of the West, and the tension between the cultures steeped in tradition and the cultures steeped in modernity. Muslims represent the permanence of their roots in religion and tradition, and therefore they are shown to be incapable of moving into modernity, which requires a distancing from religion, as dictated by the principles of laicism, and the relativization of traditional norms and values as promoted by the democratic-liberal ideals.

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The political debate started with the experts invited and representatives of the Muslim population who, according with the democratic practices, were brought into the discussion. The form assumed by the meetings of experts only reinforced the perception that Islam is the cause of the integration problems. Religion, alongside culture, received all the blame for the uneasy state of integration. The internal debates were ultimately full of advices and of the definition of the problem.

On the other hand, for signaling the importance of the public debates over and above the internal ones, it was the scenario of action that was considered more important - the public interaction between Muslims and non-Muslims, or autochthonous Rotterdammers. The internal debates were a series of seminars and meetings aimed solely at the Muslim community, with the objective of clarifying the position, objectives and ambitions of the Muslims in the society, and their point of view about civil contribution and participation.

At the same time, the debates were focused directly on the delicate themes, presenting also the viewpoint of the municipality about what the problem was and how it would have to be solved. Among the delicate themes was the position of religious institutions in society, that is to say, that mosques, the work of the imams, and the self-organizations presented obstacles to integration, giving rise to social separatism. In other words, religious organizations were perceived as possible places for religious or ethnic communitarianism.

As a solution, it was argued that religious institutions should be open to society in general and that they should also become social centers, in addition to religious ones. In this case, we see the intention of intervening in the social functions of religious institutions and in the social hierarchy of religious beliefs and organizations. The interventionist policy of the State at a local level can also be followed with respect to the theme of emancipation. The discourse of emancipation related with the theme of religion was not something new in the Netherlands.

Spread of Islam

As we shall describe in the following sections, one of the factors that contributed to the decrease in pillarization 1 is the successful implementation of the process of emancipation that made isolation and differentiation redundant. In the emancipation process, differences are erased, differences that are important from the point of view of social equality. From the point of view of the lay State, the important difference that must be destroyed is that of beliefs, norms and values that differ from those promoted by the State.

The renewed interest and concern with religion does not emerge in a vacuum.

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In order to understand the dynamics that allowed the success of Pim Fortuyn, of LR and of its program centered on Islam, it is fundamental that we acquire a deeper comprehension of the ways in which the Dutch State has dealt with religion and immigration. For that, it is important to follow the intersection between the tradition of pillarization specific to that area and its special commitment to laicism through the public institutionalization of religion, and the form that the approach to inequality and difference through the principle of citizenship assumed in time.

Immigration, education, multiculturalism and religious diversity. At that point, immigration was a short-term economic solution for the struggle against the consequences of the Second World War. When that problem was dealt with, measures were taken to ensure that the immigrant groups maintained their own culture as a legacy that would avoid problems when they returned to their countries of origin ENTZINGER, The immigrants were seen as temporary guests, and as such their integration was not an issue.

The culture was not seen as a problem, the groups in question were seen as transitory for the State. In that period, the accommodation of the ethnic groups meant the recognition of the self-identification and of processes of self-organization. In the Netherlands, multiculturalism was based on the existing institutional mechanisms of subsidizing political or religious organizations. In their condition as guests, the migrant workforce had rights, and they were even stimulated to preserve their social, cultural and religious identity, with the purpose of facilitating their movement when necessary.

This pragmatic approach allowed a kind of cultural pluralism to be developed, in which different ethnic groups achieved a system of self-institutionalization through the cultural and religious groups, associations and organizations.

These efforts were fostered and sustained by the so-called multicultural policies. When separated from the Dutch population, the immigrants organized themselves into ethnic groups, with specific cultural, social and religious organizations, giving rise to a large number of fragmented social formations JOPPKE, The individual integration, the new approach, allowed the weight of responsibility that rested upon the shoulders of the State to be transferred to each person.

The development and spread of Islamic cultures

From the viewpoint of the State, the individual could be classified for management purposes as a non-integrated system or unit. One of the main factors that triggered the change of approach from one centered on groups to one centered on individuals was the criticism that the former approach stimulated the separation of the immigrants ENTZINGER, , which in extreme cases led to isolation and to the lack of social cohesion in society.

The individualization of the discourse went hand-in-hand with the culturalization. The discourse was related to the low education level, and to unemployment and delinquency among specific ethnic groups, generating a strong polarization and the moralization of the different agents of the discussion, reinforced by the unbalance of power between them. Now, the immigrants, the citizens of a marginalized class within the Dutch society , according to Ghorashi , were to blame for the problems with which society struggled at that point.

The changes in the discourse about immigration and the combination of immigration and integration had an effect upon the concept of citizenship. Such change had as a consequence that the economic differences were regarded as cultural. The category of the Muslim which is used in the political discourse and in politics is closely related to the professed laicism of the State. Speaking about the national adaptations of the concept of laicism, Martin defines the Netherlands as the model, in a reference to the model of social organization in general, and to laicism in particular.

In this way, "there is a polarization at the level of the culture and of its system of meanings that complements the lack of polarization at the political level" MARTIN, , p.

This balance could only tend towards a religious rebirth. In his document about the historic and geographical dimension of secularization in the Netherlands, Knippenberg puts forward that the increase in Muslim and Hindu populations as a consequence of migration and of their high rates of birth will pose a challenge to the process of secularization.

However, as pointed out here, the challenge to laicism posed by the Muslim population emerges through the gap opened by the culturalization and moralization of the principle of citizenship, and by its later interest in the private lives of people. The reactions to the Muslims in the debate clearly refute the universality of the Western liberal democratic values. Politics, education and Islamic religion. The debate about Islam and integration introduced religion into the public and political debate in Holland.

Through this initiative, temporal and partial, religion acquires a platform, a voice in the democratic conversation and an opportunity to participate in the political process. This program is not only put in motion to define and to solve culture and a problem, but it is constructed in the opposition between them the Muslims and us the autochthonous Dutch. Still, this opportunity allows Muslims to present an argument in the name of religion within the political sphere, which diminishes the distance between politics and religion proposed by laicism. Muslims deplore the excessive attention given to cultural and religious differences.

Contrary to Martin , the immigrants of the diaspora, instead of equating religion with culture, make a point of differentiating them, leaving it clear that they speak from a religious standpoint.

Islam Between Culture and Politics

Some people argue that if there is a problem with the Muslim minority, its origin should not be pursued in the cultural or religious spheres, but in the socioeconomic level that is not being dealt with. The realities of immigration: the lower socioeconomic position and discrimination are justified by their current situation, but not by religion.

While the category of religion has been used in the public discourse through the frequent reference to Islam, there is a clear fusion of culture, of ethnic origin and of religion. As we have already pointed out in the previous examples, during the debates the representatives of the Muslim community accepted easily the collective that was assigned to them. Furthermore, they defended religion from the confusion with tradition and culture, and highlighted the common values of religion and citizenship.

This declaration opens space for the reflection about the ultimate end of the orientation towards a harmonious society adhering to certain norms and values. The politicization of religion - despite the reasons, allowed and of temporal character, that were given in the name of religion by people who were representing or seen to represent a religious group - began to be heard in the public and political spheres through a wide range of themes, from which only a few were under the lay jurisdiction of religion.

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