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This chapter addresses the failures of the “outsourcing” phase described briefly in Chapter 2, and other events and issues that prompted European interior ministries to wrest control of state–mosque relations from their foreign-ministry counterparts and undertake efforts to bring Islam to the table. First, there is a discussion of socioeconomic indicators of integration, followed by the growing problem of foreign government control over Muslims' religious life, an increasingly felt inadequacy of prayer space and imams, and finally, the rise of Political-Islam activism and Islamist terrorism. Then, the chapter delves into the first of two phases of these efforts that culminated in the establishment of Islamic Councils in the ten European states with sizable Muslim populations.

There is a considerable, often highly polemical, literature on Labour’s 1980s-90s internal battles, as there is increasingly on British political debates and policies towards Northern Ireland in these years. Far less has been written on the intellectual roots of the rival positions advanced. This chapter attempts to remedy that deficiency, exploring the intellectual origins (especially in varied kinds of Marxist thought, and in rival readings of Irish history) of the often bitter disputes. On one side stood a group of positions broadly describable as anti-imperialist, and enjoining support for Irish nationalism, Republicanism and of course (though most contentiously and sometimes mutedly) for armed struggle. On the other lay a constellation of stances which was considerably more diffuse still: ‘two nations’ views, ‘primacy of class politics’, and ‘primacy of peacemaking’ perspectives. The chapter examines, then, the intellectual rigour and dynamics behind these multiple initiatives, lobbies and clashes.

The author reminds us of the truism that the Muslims of Europe have different visions of their religion, of what is Islam, sometimes they are almost opposed. Their attitudes range from the strictest forms of practice to a critical rejection. While some young Muslims are deeply religious, because they believe in being concerned citizens and are politically active, numerous others do not use their faith as the only prism through which they look at their everyday lives and are active within society. Being a Muslim does not necessarily mean having a life centred only on religion; therefore the Muslims do not only mobilise to achieve religious goals. The chapter compares these various forms of mobilisation in order to underline the main diverging and converging lines between them in terms of social involvement (conflicted or consensual mobilisation), related or not with claims of citizenship (minority or civic mobilisation), and political partnerships with others social and political forces. The author points also to those individuals of Muslim background who have become activists against Islam.

This chapter describes the demographic and social landscape of Boston after the Civil War. It explores the Black community’s traditions of political activism and roots in the anti-slavery movement. It highlights the importance of voting to African American conceptions of citizenship and early fights for suffrage.