Excerpt:
Two days ago, The Monkey Cage featured a guest post on Muslim integration in Europe, encouragingly titled "Some good news about Muslims in Europe." While the news may have been good, it's unclear how representative it was.
First, though the title of the post signals it will be about Muslims in Europe, the article from which The Monkey Cage post draws specifically examines Muslims in France. The authors make a strong case for why they study France in their scholarly paper, titled "What Makes Muslims Feel French?":
France is a useful country for our analysis because tensions surrounding Muslim integration have been particularly acute there (Adida, Laitin, and Valfort 2010, 2013). France has approximately five million Muslim residents, more than any other European country (Kepel 1991; Laurence and Vaisse 2006; Ternisien 2002). It has been the site for some of the most highly politicized debates in Europe about Muslim practices, such as whether it is appropriate to wear headscarves and veils in schools and on the streets (Joppke 2009b; Kuru 2008). In addition, the French tradition of secularism conflicts with some Muslims' desires to make claims about the social or political value of their religious practices (Koopmans et al. 2005; Bowen 2007; Scott 2010).