The French Consulate in Boston; Cultural Services of the French Embassy in NYC; The Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany; The Spanish Consulate in Boston; The Harvard Islamic Legal Studies Program; The Center for European Studies
In Europe, the perception of the international and political manifestations of Islam was a significant factor in shaping the condition of Muslim minorities long before the events of September 11, 2001. In the United States, on the other hand, a political distinction has generally been maintained between Islam in the Muslim world and Muslim immigrants living in the West. Recently, however, the convergence of European and American political discourse posits an automatic correlation between the war on terrorism, internal security measures, and immigration policy. Such a correlation increasingly invalidates the distinction between international and domestic policy, and has consequences not only for the status of Muslim minorities, but also for more general issues of secularism and multiculturalism in the democratic nations concerned. This conference presents the results of a six-nation study conducted in Europe on the condition of Muslims and includes scholars who are currently working on the status of Muslims in the US to offer a comparative perspective and offer directions for future comparative research.
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