Islam in the West: Perceptions and Reactions

This book focuses on the way Muslims and mainstream societies in the West, especially in America, Australia, and Europe, perceive each other. It focuses on the meaning of being a Muslim in a multicultural, multi-religious, and technologically developed world. The essays in the volume explore the socio-political, cultural, and historical differences between the two groups, Muslims and Western societies, while attempting to reconcile some of these differences in creative ways by initiating constructive dialogues between them. It also takes into account the tensions, challenges, and complexities between these communities across various contexts, including, schools, universities, media, government, private, and public institutions. This volume thus explores this interplay between perceptions and misperceptions by delving into the societal structures of Western host and immigrant communities.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables and Figures Foreword Understanding Islam-West Relations and Muslim and Non-Muslim Mutual Perceptions Abe W. Ata and Jan A. Ali I. Perceptions and Attitudes 1. Attitudes of School-Age Muslim Australians towards Gender and Religious Discrepancies: A National Survey Abe W. Ata 2. How Mainstream Australian Students Perceive Muslims and Islam: A National Survey Abe W. Ata 3. Framing, Branding, and Explaining: A Survey of Perceptions of Islam and Muslims in the Canadian Polls, Government, and Academia Ali Dizboni and Christian Leuprecht II. Inclusion and Exclusion 4. Integrated Acculturation and Contact Strategies to Improve Anglo-Muslim Relations in Australia Hisham M. Abu-Rayya 5. Australian Muslims as Radicalised 'Other' and Their Experiences of Social Exclusion Jan A. Ali 6. Young Muslims in Australia and the US: The Focus on the 'Muslim Question' Nahid A. Kabir 7. Islam-West Relations and the Rise of Muslim Radicalism and Global Jihadism Jan A. Ali and Drew Cottle 8. Engaging with Islam, Engaging with Society: The Participation of Muslims in Dutch Society Thijl Sunier III. Faith and Identity 9. 'Muslims in the Modern Sense': Kabyles Negotiating Religious Identity in the Czech Republic Tereza Hyánková 10. Faith, Identity, and Ideology: Experiences of Australian Male Converts to Islam Paul Mitchell and Halim Rane 11. Muslim Communities in a Catholic Country: The Case of Italy Enzo Pace and Khalid Rhazzali Bibliography Index About the Editors and Contributors

About the Author :
Abe W. Ata is of a Palestinian Lebanese Australian background, born in Bethlehem. He graduated in social psychology at the American University of Beirut, and was nominated as a delegate to the United Nations' World Youth Assembly in New York. He gained his doctorate at the University of Melbourne in 1980 and has since been teaching and researching at several Australian, American, Jordanian, West Bank, and Danish universities, currently at Deakin University, and Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University; Jan A. Ali is a Religious Sociologist specialising in Islam. He is a Senior Lecturer in Islam and Modernity in the School of Humanities and Communication Arts at the University of Western Sydney.