Misrecognising Muslim consciousness in Europe

The category of Muslim in Europe is patterned by a variety of subjective and objective features. Three prevailing empirical interpretations of Muslim identities at local, national, and supra-national levels can be identified: Euro-Islam (a renewed Islamic doctrine); the Eurabia trajectory (numerical and cultural domination of Islam in Europe); and the exceptional Muslim (not following institutional opportunity structures of minority integration). Each category displays a normative ‘position’ that misrecognises dynamic components of what may be termed ‘Muslim consciousness’. This chapter challenges normative discourse by demonstrating that there is compelling evidence that Muslims in Europe are meeting standards of reasonableness in their political claims-making, often from contexts in which they face profound social and political adversity.