How & Why “Immigrants” became “Muslims

Over the last ten years or so, migrants to Europe who used to be labelled as Moroccans, Turks, Algerians, Pakistani, and so on, have increasingly come to be labelled in religious terms. This article provides a brief analysis of how and why this transformation of public discourse in European contexts has taken place, and discusses the consequences of defining immigrants with Muslim background in terms of an essentialized religious identity. The current text is based on the workshop “Public Debates about Islam in Europe” held in March 2006 in Montecatini. Details about this workshop can be found on page 56