ABSTRACT
Too much of the debate about Islam and Europe focuses on questions of
identity. According to the conventional wisdom, Islamic or Muslim immigrants
in Europe are different from Europeans. Muslim countries are different too.
Moreover, these distinctions are fundamental. The Islamic world is the ‘other’ to
Europe’s ‘us’; Europeans are not like ‘them’. It is no wonder, therefore, that
Europeans are reluctant to see an expansion of the European Union (EU) to
include Turkey or that Europeans might view Muslim immigrants as an existential
threat.
