The Lived Experiences of Muslims in Europe

This book unearths new knowledge and challenges existing paradigms in relation to the integration of minority communities. It comprehensively reflects upon the complexity of recognition experiences and integration challenges faced by Muslim individuals and groups in Europe. By focusing on universal recognition themes related to experiences within personal relationships, legal relations, religion and civil society, it makes an essential contribution to a deeper understanding of Muslim life in the West. It offers a reconsideration of everyday lives of Muslims in Europe by drawing on the paradigm of recognition. Exploring universal themes, it demonstrates the complexity of recognitive relations by examining how Muslim individuals perceive the ways they are recognised, or misrecognised, within various spheres of everyday interaction. It sheds light on the ways in which forms of recognition affect identity formation and social relations more generally, and the broader ramifications that arise from such forms of misrecognition. This book draws on Honneth’s critical social theory of recognition to frame a range of grassroots interviews and focused discussion groups. Grounded in qualitative research and with an emancipatory intent, The Lived Experiences of Muslims in Europe challenges both the assumption that minority groups simply seek to have their particular culture and associated beliefs endorsed by a majority, and the security paradigm that narrowly views Muslims in Europe through the lens of political extremism.