Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WhIsE (White Islam: A New Religion for Europeans)
Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-05-31
The WhIsE project explores the complex and non-linear relationship between European conservatism and Islamic intellectual heritage. In recent years, there has been a significant rise in actors challenging the foundations of liberal democracies, often employing pro-Christian and anti-Islamic rhetoric. For instance, populist parties frequently invoke Christian values to resist the perceived Islamization of Europe, thereby supporting exclusivist and nativist ideologies. However, summarizing the relationship between European conservative traditions and Islam as purely antagonistic would be a misconception. The WhIsE project investigates instances where European conservative and Muslim intellectual traditions find common ground.
This project particularly examines how Islamic principles can provide a novel framework for critiquing both economic and cultural liberalism in contemporary Europe. By focusing on the writings produced by the Murabitun World Movement, an international network of converts to Islam, the project explores how traditional European critiques of liberalism and the Enlightenment are reformulated through the decolonial perspectives of Muslim thinkers. Additionally, the project seeks to foster a more nuanced view of the relationship between Muslim communities and conservative forces in contemporary Europe, highlighting how practices of exclusion and inclusion can coexist in complex ways.
Understanding the dynamics between various groups criticizing liberal norms is crucial for comprehending the current backlash against liberalism, which affects not only communities in Europe but also in other parts of the world. The WhIsE project contributes to distinguishing various actors, their goals and different traditions of liberalism critique, aiming to offer a more nuanced perspective on transnational interactions.
This project particularly examines how Islamic principles can provide a novel framework for critiquing both economic and cultural liberalism in contemporary Europe. By focusing on the writings produced by the Murabitun World Movement, an international network of converts to Islam, the project explores how traditional European critiques of liberalism and the Enlightenment are reformulated through the decolonial perspectives of Muslim thinkers. Additionally, the project seeks to foster a more nuanced view of the relationship between Muslim communities and conservative forces in contemporary Europe, highlighting how practices of exclusion and inclusion can coexist in complex ways.
Understanding the dynamics between various groups criticizing liberal norms is crucial for comprehending the current backlash against liberalism, which affects not only communities in Europe but also in other parts of the world. The WhIsE project contributes to distinguishing various actors, their goals and different traditions of liberalism critique, aiming to offer a more nuanced perspective on transnational interactions.
One of the main goals of the project has been documenting, archiving and analysing the intellectual output of the Murabitun Movement. Among the results of the project is an extensive reference database related to the writings and publications issued by the Movement between the 1960s and 2010s. This database includes books, articles, videos, newspapers, and online publications, enabling the tracing of the evolution of political thought within the Movement across several branches in Europe, as well as in the US, Mexico, and South Africa. The qualitative research of the data was conducted during the PI's stay at George Washington University in Washington, DC. The findings were presented in two presentations at the host university, one presentation at the home university in Amsterdam, four large international conferences, and two local workshops organized by the PI. The results were published as three papers and one chapter in an edited volume, all available in Open Access format. Given the inherent ethical challenges of conducting research among illiberal groups, the PI has also edited a special issue on the topic for the Journal of Illiberalism Studies.
An important dimension of the project has been communication with stakeholders beyond academia, including policymakers, civil organizations, and the broader public. The project's deliverables include four policy papers, one closed event for policymakers in Washington, DC, and ten outreach activities, including radio interviews, invited lectures, and a YouTube explainer. The PI has also shared her experiences gained during the project by hosting a workshop on digital methods and holding a presentation on the MSCA grant schemes.
Finally, the project aimed to enhance the profile and skillset of the PI for further academic career pursuits as an independent researcher. During the project, the PI improved her skills in digital data analysis, project management, and PhD supervision, among others. Not least thanks to the CV advancements during this project, the PI has been appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam.
An important dimension of the project has been communication with stakeholders beyond academia, including policymakers, civil organizations, and the broader public. The project's deliverables include four policy papers, one closed event for policymakers in Washington, DC, and ten outreach activities, including radio interviews, invited lectures, and a YouTube explainer. The PI has also shared her experiences gained during the project by hosting a workshop on digital methods and holding a presentation on the MSCA grant schemes.
Finally, the project aimed to enhance the profile and skillset of the PI for further academic career pursuits as an independent researcher. During the project, the PI improved her skills in digital data analysis, project management, and PhD supervision, among others. Not least thanks to the CV advancements during this project, the PI has been appointed as an Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam.
A phenomenon linking different conservative and Muslim communities in Europe, initially regarded as marginal at the project's inception, gained significant visibility by 2024. During the election campaigns in Europe, numerous populist and far-right parties openly engaged in campaigning among ethnic and religious communities. The project's results enable contextualizing these convergence processes in a broader historical setting, tracing back to the 1960s and following the evolution of the image of Islam in Europe, which has changed significantly since major political events in the Middle East in the 1970s, migration processes to Europe around the same period, and the effects of 9/11 and terrorist attacks in Europe in the 2000s-2010s. The project's deliverables also show that some ideas expressed by the network of converts in focus have been echoed in other communities around the same period (e.g. Black Muslim communities in the US in the 1960s), as well as by groups that branched off from the movement and created their own followings (e.g. so-called neo-traditionalists).
The project deliverables (both achieved and expected), including publications, guest lectures, outreach activities and conference presentations, help fill the gap in understanding the complex links between different groups currently engaged in the critique of liberal democracies. The project emphasizes transnational connections and interplay between different traditions of critique (e.g. European anti-Enlightenment critique and Muslim decolonial critique), exploring how they interact and impact each other. An important social implication of this project is understanding different actors who voice critiques of liberalism, their positions of power, and how their suggested agendas influence these positions. Although some critique points regarding the current state of affairs in Europe, such as ecological degradation, unfair wealth redistribution, and lack of social cohesion, are shared by large segments of society across the political spectrum, this project particularly engages in a critical assessment of how ideologies proposed by the groups in focus contribute to or, conversely, prevent the building of inclusive societies.
The project deliverables (both achieved and expected), including publications, guest lectures, outreach activities and conference presentations, help fill the gap in understanding the complex links between different groups currently engaged in the critique of liberal democracies. The project emphasizes transnational connections and interplay between different traditions of critique (e.g. European anti-Enlightenment critique and Muslim decolonial critique), exploring how they interact and impact each other. An important social implication of this project is understanding different actors who voice critiques of liberalism, their positions of power, and how their suggested agendas influence these positions. Although some critique points regarding the current state of affairs in Europe, such as ecological degradation, unfair wealth redistribution, and lack of social cohesion, are shared by large segments of society across the political spectrum, this project particularly engages in a critical assessment of how ideologies proposed by the groups in focus contribute to or, conversely, prevent the building of inclusive societies.