Apart
Alienated and Engaged Muslims in the West

Drawing on over 100 interviews with Muslims in London and Madrid, Apart highlights the growing disaffection young Muslims in the West feel in the wake of 9/11 and counterterrorism measures.

Paradoxically, social and political integration are characteristic of those who spurn the social and political system, while the individuals most acutely aware of the rights, liberties and cultural mores of democracy are most likely to have the deepest sense of disappointment about their non-fulfillment. Gest also discusses young Muslims' need for norm-based stability in an era characterised by contested beliefs about nation, state, and faith. While sounding an unambiguous warning to European policy-makers, Apart presages an imminent American experience with the same challenges. How both government and peoples discipline their fear and understand their Muslim citizens may shape democratic social life in the foreseeable future.