British Muslims, multiculturalism and UK foreign policy: ‘integration’ and ‘cohesion’ in and beyond the state

Abstract

After the 7 July and 21 July 2005 attacks on London the government‐sponsored effort to ‘prevent extremism together’ has repeatedly acknowledged the central role of anger at UK foreign policy in the radicalization of some British Muslims. This acknowledgement has been incorporated into a ‘comprehensive framework for action’ centring upon the need for increased ‘integration’ and an effort, critically, to re‐work British multiculturalism as a means to combat terrorism. Examining the history of multiculturalism in Britain and the tradition of living and acting ‘together’ that it suggests, however, raises a set of questions about the society into which integration is supposed to occur, what integration might involve and its real efficacy for combating terrorists. In addressing these issues, this article suggests that the debate over contemporary multiculturalism should be situated within a much wider social and political crisis over the meaning of ‘community’ in the UK, to which questions of global order and foreign policy are central. Comparing the ‘ethical’ basis of Al‐Qaeda's attacks with Tony Blair's invocation of ‘values’ as the foundation for military intervention reveals that both seek to realize models of community through violence and a shared process of ‘radicalization’ which in both cases precedes 9/11 and which might be traced back to the Gulf War of 1991. The article concludes that debate over the future of multiculturalism in the UK is being conducted alongside and is implicated within a second, violent global conflict over community: one which is central to, but essentially unarticulated within the domestic context.

Religion, Cultural Clash, and Muslim American Attitudes About Politically Motivated Violence

“…First, studies have shed light on the historical dimensions of Muslim-European interactions that have taken place over several centuries. And as has been shown, these relations often have, and continue to be, marred by conflict and disagreement (Brighton 2007;Kedar 1984). This longstanding pattern of conflict elsewhere in the world stands in contrast to the relatively recent encounter between Muslims and non-Muslims in the United States (Cesari 2004).…”

Evolving UK Policy on Diversity in the Armed Services: Multiculturalism and its Discontents

“…9 The Salman Rushdie affair was an earlier case in point. See the discussion in Brighton, 2007. 10 See the discussions in Mason, 2003c. 11 In fact, there was little convincing evidence that residential segregation was self-imposed and many indications that it resulted from the operation of the local housing markets.…”

Private money, public scrutiny? Contrasting perspectives on remittances

“…As a consequence of the July 2005 bombings in London, which 'home-grown terrorists' born and raised in the UK carried out, policies on integration and social cohesion have come to the forefront in discussions on the threat of global terrorism (Brighton 2007;Kalra and Kapoor 2009). We shall return to the assumed links between remittances and integration in a later section of this article.…”