NEW ETHNIC MINORITIES IN EUROPE: MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

Prilog ukazuje na neka osnovna obilježja odnosa europskih zemalja imigracije prema novim (migrantskim) etničkim manjinana u svojim sredinama, odnos koji ujedno upućuje na različite oblike etničnosti prisutne u razvoju europskih nacijadržava. Razlika u “nacionalnim odgovorima” spram nazočnosti novih etničkih skupina odražava upravo razlike u razumijevanju etničkog/nacionalnog identiteta pojedinih zemalja. Autorica se potom posebno osvrće na nazočnost suvremene muslimanske populacije u zapadnoeuropskim zemljama, koja se – možda više nego i jedna druga strana “skupina” – nalazi u procjepu između zapadnoeuropske prakse rasne, ali sve više i kulturne diskriminacije i nekoga općeg vjerovanja Zapada u tradicije liberalizma, pluralizma i demokracije. U okviru toga razmatra se, prije svega, pitanje uloge islama i “muslimanskog” identiteta među muslimanskim zajednicama u kontekstu zapadnoeuropskih društava.The essay first highlights certain basic features of the attitude of the European immigrant countries towards the new (migrant) ethnic minorities in their midst, the attitude that at the same time is indicative of the existence of various forms of ethnicity in the development of the European nation-states. The differences in the individual “national responses” regarding the existence of new ethnic communities reflect these differences in the understanding of the ethnic/national identity of individual countries. The author then goes on to deal more specifically with the presence of the Muslim population in West-European countries, the population that – perhaps more than any other group of “aliens” – is torn between the Westeuropean practice of racial and increasingly cultural discrimination, and a universal Western belief in the tradition of liberalism, pluralism, and democracy. In connection with this, the role of Islam and the “Muslim” identity in the Muslim communities in West-European countries is analyzed