Muslim Active Citizenship in the West

Muslim community organizations – sites of active citizenship or self-segregation?

“…This contrasts with the situation in Germany. Although the communication channels between policy-makers and Muslim community groups have intensified over the past decade, these relationships are still less robust than in Australia (Peucker and Akbarzadeh 2014). There seems to be a more pronounced disconnect between Muslim communitybased activism and the mainstream political landscape and its institutions and representatives.…”

“…While Muslim communities in both countries face similar challenges of public stigmatization, exclusionary discourses, and political scrutiny, they differ with regards to their recognition as "ordinary" civil society stakeholders and agents. This has implications for their "linking" social capital (Woolcock 2001), with Muslim community organizations in Australia holding closer and more sustainable ties with government and other mainstream society stakeholders (Peucker and Akbarzadeh 2014). Moreover, the national citizenship regimes in Australia and Germany sit on opposite sides of the spectrum, with Australia praising itself for an inclusive "citizenship-centred multiculturalism" (Bowen, quoted in Peucker and Akbarzadeh 2014, 55), while Germany has a much more restrictive policy framework around legal citizenship.…”

“…providing settlement support), which complemented their primary focus on religious services. Many of them have also started to offer integration-related activities, like language courses, capacity building and leadership programmes, and outreach and interfaith dialogue initiatives (Halm and Sauer 2012;Peucker and Akbarzadeh 2014).…”

“…In countries that define themselves as nations built by immigrants (especially the US, Canada and Australia) migrant and minority associations have commonly been regarded as "ordinary" community agencies in diverse societies. In Canada and Australia, under the umbrella of national multicultural policies, such minority organizations have been actively supported by the government through "funding, technical assistance and normative encouragement" (Bloemraad 2005, 867) to play an active role as welfare providers, cultural agencies and political representation for their respective community (Peucker and Akbarzadeh 2014).…”

Muslim active citizenship in Australia: Socioeconomic challenges and the emergence of a Muslim elite

“…But the shocks of terrorist attacks have made them aware of the importance of reaching out to the wider community and becoming more active in the public domain. While the extent of their civic and political participation cannot be quantitatively determined, there is a general consensus that Australian Muslims have become much more engaged in various forms of civic and political activities in the post-9/11 decade (Peucker and Akbarzadeh 2014). Amath (2013) identifies three main areas of Muslim community engagement, which pulled an unprecedented number of Muslims into the sphere of active citizenship: inter-faith initiatives (Bouma et al 2007, 61), media engagement (Dreher 2010) and government consultations.…”