Why are Mosques a Problem? Local Politics and Fear of Islam in Northern Italy

Abstract

Conflict over the building of mosques in European cities depends very much on the degree of legitimacy acquired by Muslims in the public sphere. What is at stake is the degree of cultural and religious pluralism acceptable in a certain context. In Italy mosque-building has a strong symbolic dimension and involves both local and national actors, and religious and political issues. The media have a key role because on the one hand they present local facts to a wider national arena; on the other they help to build fear among the Italian population by enlarging the international discourse on Islam. Thus, the conflicts that frequently arise around mosque-building reflect tensions and ambiguities already existing in Italian society, like the relationship between local and national politics, or the Catholic Church monopoly of cultural values versus secularism. What is the role of Muslim actors in all this? Building a mosque means, first of all, visibility. We address these questions through the example of the planning of a mosque in the town of Lodi, in the North Italian region of Lombardy.

Bangladeshi migrant associations in Italy: transnational engagement, community formation and regional unity

“…Because of the differences in religious practice and language with other Muslim communities in Padova, the religious identity of Bangladeshi migrants serves as an ideological-cultural base, which links them with their homeland (Akcapar 2009). It should also be stressed that, in the context of "mosque conflicts" taking place in Italy and the rest of Europe (Cesari 2005;Saint-Blanc and Schmidt di Friedberg 2005), the presence of the centre prompted many criticisms from among local political groups, which exploit the issue of migration to attract votes, and residents of the neighbourhood. However, the Bangladeshi community and its associations in Padova and Cadoneghe have not adopted any particular public or private strategies to deal with the growing Islamophobia.…”

Hybrid Muslim identities in digital space: The Italian blog Yalla

“…These processes of identity-negotiation and practice-articulation are often intertwined with a variety of media practices (el-Aswad, 2013). On the one hand, the media contributes to the fear of Islam by offering biased and superficial descriptions of Muslim communities in Italy and by condemning, for example, migration and the construction of mosques (Mezran, 2013;Saint-Blancat and Friedberg, 2005;Vaccari, 2009). On the other hand, second-generation and Muslim Italians use media to negotiate hybrid identities, move beyond stereotypes, and promote integration (Toronto, 2008;Zinn, 2011).…”

Negotiating Muslim identity and diversity in Greek urban spaces

“…In Italy, apart from the 'Mosque Cathedral' that opened in Rome in 1995 and two smaller mosques in Milan and Catania (all three financed by foreign funds), the majority of Muslim cultural and prayer centres are attached to informal prayer rooms located in shops and apartments. Saint-Blancat and Schmidt di Friedberg (2005) looked at specific examples of mosques' controversies in Northern Italy and analysed the role of the media in making a local conflict into a national issue. They concluded that whether mosques are seen as posing a threat to the host community depends on the extent to which Muslim immigrants are accepted as members of the wider society.…”