ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the local, regional and global contexts in which exclusionary and inclusionary attitudes towards Muslims have emerged in the West. It focuses on Muslim women and youth as agents and subjects of exclusion and/or inclusion in Western liberal societies. The book draws attention to art and literature as the spaces in which both the Muslim minorities and the majority communities engage in exclusion and inclusion. It also draws attention to possibilities of promoting inclusion with reference to the Dutch and Canadian examples. In the US, anti-Muslim reaction to the Boston bombing was less strident but some Muslims were attacked, the Council on American-Islamic Relations received hate calls, some reporters talked of the Muslim threat, and social media provided the space for criticism of Islam and Muslims.
