Blaming Islam by John R Bowen

Blaming Islam by John R Bowen

Why fears about Muslim integration into Western society-propagated opportunistically by some on the right-misread history and misunderstand multiculturalism.

In the United States and in Europe, politicians, activists, and even some scholars argue that Islam is incompatible with Western values and that we put ourselves at risk if we believe that Muslim immigrants can integrate into our society. Norway's Anders Behring Breivik took this argument to its extreme and murderous conclusion in July 2011. Meanwhile in the United States, state legislatures' efforts to ban the practice of Islamic law, or sharia, are gathering steam-despite a notable lack of evidence that sharia poses any real threat.

In Blaming Islam, John Bowen uncovers the myths about Islam and Muslim integration into Western society, with a focus on the histories, policy, and rhetoric associated with Muslim immigration in Europe, the British experiment with sharia law for Muslim domestic disputes, and the claims of European and American writers that Islam threatens the West. Most important, he shows how exaggerated fears about Muslims misread history, misunderstand multiculturalism's aims, and reveal the opportunism of right wing parties who draw populist support by blaming Islam.

John Bowen was born in India in 1924 and reared by aunts and grandparents in the UK. After an uneventful war, he went to Oxford to read History. He began his writing life as a novelist and was recruited to television drama by the director, Peter Wood, then began writing for the stage. His first play, I Love You, Mrs Patterson opened at the St Martin's Theatre in 1964. His second, After The Rain, has been produced all over Europe as well as the USA, Canada and Australia, as has his third the double-bill Little Boxes. Of his other plays, Singles and The Corsican Brothers were first produced at the Greenwich Theatre, The Disorderly Women at Manchester, Florence Nightingale at Canterbury, Heil Caesar at the Midland Arts. He has also adapted Marivaux for the Chichester Arts Festival and Moliere for Lancaster.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262017589
ISBN 10	026201758X
Title	Blaming Islam
Author	John R Bowen
Series	Boston Review Books
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	The Mit Press
Year published	2012-03-02
Number of pages	144
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.