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Nilüfer Göle

Interpénétrations. L'Islam et l'Europe

• Nilüfer Göle
  Paris, Galaade Editions, septembre 2005, 157 p.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Interpenetration between Islam and Europe
  Is there a conflict between religions? Between civilisations? If conflict there is, is it the outcome of antagonism between the West with its roots in modernity and a secular state and an Islam which is set rigidly in outdated forms of belief and tradition? What is the reality? Starting with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the author provides insights as to the motives of the perpetrators and the complexity of their relationships with the West. The reader is invited to make a distinction between Islam and Islamism and, stressing the extent of the diversity of contemporary forms of Islam, the author takes the specific example of Turkey. Is the decision of terrorists to attack this country, despite the fact that it is governed by leaders who come from an Islamist tendency but who advocate "an alternative form of Islam which acts humanely" , not an indication of a conflict between several different visions of Islam? Turkey affords an example of how tradition and modernity can co-exist in everyday life in both social and private spheres. This complex relationship strikes a chord, particularly in France, concerning the status of women: the Muslim headscarf has thus become symbolic of all the contradictions tearing contemporary Islam asunder. The author appeals to the enlightened to combat the reflex of taking refuge in identity in an endeavour to avoid a pitched battle between partisans of an extreme form of Islamism and defenders of a so-called "European purity".

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