Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France [Paperback]

"an exceedingly important read for anyone trying to understand how governments can help promote (or stunt) the integration process of Muslim immigrants to Europe." - Mark Leon Goldberg, The American Prospect blog (TAPPED), 9/20/2006 "Integrating Islam is a refreshing break from the superficial diagnoses of French and Muslim assimiliation that frequently capture the media's attention; Laurence and Vaisse point instead to the many positive sociological realities and trends in this relationship. Their work is an important read for anyone trying to understand the complexities of Islamic integration into the European mainstream and an extremely valuable contribution to the field of migration studies." - Elizabeth Grimm, Democracy & Society, 9/1/2006 "a probing new book on the integration of Muslims in France" - Stephanie Giry, Prospect Magazine, 2/1/2007 "This book is a must for many reasons. The authors illustrate how Muslims are being integrated into French society and how exclusion and marginality are pushing a few of them into radicalism and terrorism. In a single work it condenses the many sides of the 'Muslim question' within France and, in some ways, Europe overall." - Farhad Khosrokhavar, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris "A well-documented, nuanced, and ultimately optimistic study of French Muslims--a convincing refutation of American cliches about the rise of Islamism in France, the effects of Muslims on French foreign policy, European anti-Semitism, and the incompatibility of Islam and the traditional French model of integration... Illuminating and impressive." - Stanley Hoffman, Foreign Affairs, 11/1/2006 "This excellent book deals with the challenges posed by the presence in France of several million Muslims. It covers virtually everything one would want to know about the subject." - CHOICE, 4/1/2007 " Integrating Islam is a must read for those who study Muslims in France. It contains very rich and updated data about Muslims' demography, organizational capacity, and political influence in France." - Ahmet T. Kuru, Contemporary Islam "This is an important study for reasons that reach far beyond the borders of France." - David Ethan Corbin, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Fletcher Forum of World Affairs " Everyone interested in immigration, European Islam, terrorism, or French politics should read [this] book." - Pavol Szalai, Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association, International Issues and Slovak Foreign Policy "This is by far the most comprehensive and best documented book available in English on the Muslim population in France." - Alec G. Hargreaves, Florida State University, French Politics, Culture and Society "Lawrence and Vaisse give an encyclopedic assessment of French policies toward the country's Muslim minority and the social, economic, and political facts of integration... One imagines the book lying on the desks of graduate students and journalists who need a primer on the recent history and the facts. If so, we should all be happy." - Jytte Klausen, Brandeis University, Journal of Religion

Nearly five million Muslims call France home, the vast majority from former French colonies in North Africa. While France has successfully integrated waves of immigrants in the past, this new influx poses a new variety of challenges --much as it does in neighboring European countries. Alarmists view the growing role of Muslims in French society as a form of "reverse colonization"; they believe Muslim political and religious networks seek to undermine European rule of law or that fundamentalists are creating a society entirely separate from the mainstream.Integrating Islam portrays the more complex reality of integration's successes and failures in French politics and society. From intermarriage rates to economic indicators, the authors paint a comprehensive portrait of Muslims in France. Using original research, they devote special attention to the policies developed by successive French governments to encourage integration and discourage extremism. Because of the size of its Muslim population and its universalistic definition of citizenship, France is an especially good test case for the encounter of Islam and the West. Despite serious and sometimes spectacular problems, the authors see a "French Islam" slowly replacing "Islam in France"?in other words, the emergence of a religion and a culture that feels at home in, and is largely at peace with, its host society.Integrating Islam provides readers with a comprehensive view of the state of Muslim integration into French society that cannot be found anywhere else. It is essential reading for students of French politics and those studying the interaction of Islam and the West, as well as the general public.