Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2014

Publication Title

Studies in Contemporary Islam / Nordic Journal of Islamic Studies/Tidskrift for islamforskning

Volume

8

Issue

1

Pages

56-77

Abstract

The article reviews the status of the highly diverse community of American Muslims, with reference to US national identity and immigration history, history of Islam in the USA, and civil society organization. It is found that on average, and after the civil right movement of the 1960s, Muslims are very well assimilated into the US society and economy, in which the specific American civil society and religious organizations play an important enabling part, providing networks and inroads to society for newcomers as well as vehicles for preserving ethniccultural distinctiveness. This broad pattern of development has not changed in the aftermath of 9/11 and ensuing wars on terror. Compared with the Nordic context, where Muslims are often considered challenging to a secular social order, American Muslims do not stand out as more or differently religious, or any less American, than other religious communities. It is tentatively concluded that, downsides apart, US national identity and civil society structure could be more favorable for the social integration of Muslims than the Nordic welfare state model.

Comments

Author Posting © Forum for Islamforskning, 2014. This article is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The article was published in Tidskrift for islamforskning, Vol. 8, Iss. 1, 2014, http://dx.doi.org/10.7146/tifo.v8i1.25323

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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