ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a comparative critical overview and assessment of the logics and mechanisms for Muslim representation in Europe as they have emerged and been consolidated in the two decades at the turn of the millennium. First, it seeks to illuminate the dual thinking behind – and the causes for – policy decisions that have led European governments to promote Muslim institutions and to engage with their Muslim populations in formal and semi-formal ways. In doing so, it questions the utilization and validity of the expression ‘moderate Islam’, as well as the excessive focus on ‘organized’ forms of Islam. After categorizing existing models of Muslim-government relations in Europe, the chapter points out the implications of this process of institutionalizing Islam, in both the short and long term, for the status of Muslim communities in Europe and for the future of Europe’s secular democracies. It concludes with a call to adjust public discourse and policy approach to Islam in Europe through a methodological shift that privileges Muslims’ experiences as ‘individuals’.
