The Struggle for Inclusion: Muslim Minorities and the Democratic Ethos - Hardcover

by Elisabeth Ivarsflaten (Author)

The politics of inclusion is about more than hate, exclusion, and discrimination. It is a window into the moral character of contemporary liberal democracies. The Struggle for Inclusion introduces a new method to the study of public opinion: to probe, step by step, how far non-Muslim majorities are willing to be inclusive, where they draw the line, and why they draw it there and not elsewhere. Those committed to liberal democratic values and their concerns are the focus, not those advocating exclusion and intolerance.

Notwithstanding the turbulence and violence of the last decade over issues of immigration and of Muslims in the West, the results of this study demonstrate that the largest number of citizens in contemporary liberal democracies are more open to inclusion of Muslims than has been recognized. Not less important, the book reveals limits on inclusion that follow from the friction between liberal democratic values. This pioneering work thus brings to light both pathways to progress and polarization traps.

Author Biography

Elisabeth Ivarsflaten is professor of political science and scientific director of the Digital Social Science Core Facility at the University of Bergen, Norway. Paul M. Sniderman is the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr., Professor of Public Policy at Stanford University and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is, most recently, author of The Democratic Faith and coauthor of Paradoxes of Liberal Democracy: Islam, Western Europe and the Danish Cartoon Crisis.