Sorry I haven't posted anything in a few days. Internet access has been unreliable. We just boarded a cruise ship ... Errr...."ferry" but it looks more like a cruise ship to me. I may be an unreliable witness on this point, though, as my only experience of cruise ships has been in magazine photos. We just passed a room full of our students who brought more that the recommended amount of luggage (a frequent problem), and they seemed to be drowning in luggage in their teeny room. We ran into Allan a few minutes ago, and he was running up and down the stairs like a kid who has just discovered sugar! New experiences are fun.
This is an overnight trip, and we will arrive in Norway in the morning. Thus far the trip has been productive and interesting. Our project has been to compare the way that Muslims, particularly Muslim immigrants, are perceived and treated in various countries in Europe. Because of different political systems and different histories and social norms and values and different populations of immigrants, the countries we have visited have had a different types of issues to address and different levels of success in achieving their own particular models of integration.
In France the official form of secularism makes use of the school system to attempt to produce a homogenous, idealised Republican (as in the French Republic) citizen. This means that differences are things to be overcome rather than appreciated. This creates conflicts between those who resent others who won't comply and immigrants who feel a part of their identity is systematically suppressed. It also creates splits between those who are seen as "good Muslims" because they try to comply with the secular ideal by suppressing any signs of religion, and the "bad Muslims" who maintain aspects of their religious and/or national identity. There is no religious education in the schools, and the issue of headscarves, face veils, and burkas is very problematic and conflictual. We spoke with a representative of a group in France that addresses violence and discrimination against Muslims, and this is a serious and widespread problem there. There is sometimes a sense among people that Muslims who "look like" Muslims are actively resisting becoming assimilated and thus have no place in France.
Belgium teaches officially recognised religions in the schools (families can choose). The Belgians we talked to seemed to see the French model as too antagonistic, although they hastened to assure us that Belgium is a secular state and holds secularism to be an important value. This value seemed to be share by the religious people we met.
Denmark is very different because there is an official church that is the State church of Denmark. This means that the church by and large fulfils some of the functions the state normally would like registration of births and deaths. Religious expression and practice are much less restricted than they would be in France, but Denmark is also one of the few countries in Europe that has a nativist party in power. The Danish People' Party is based on the premise that Denmark should be for native Danes and that immigrants, particularly Muslims, are a threat to ethnic Danes. The DPP is currently part of a coalition government. This is a great concern for the Muslims here, as these Nativist parties tend to support policies that promote deportation of those who are seen as incompatible with "Danishness." We talked with a La Sierra alum who is African American who said that prejudice is a bi issue in Denmark and she hasn't found Danes to be very open to or welcoming of those they perceive as different. Anyone who comes to Denmark from a non-EU state is required to learn Danish, and even with fluent Danish, looking non-Danish is an obstacle. When we were in Odense we didn't see inter-ethnic friendships with Danes with the exception of people involved with the church inter cultural outreach program. This was one of the reasons the program seemed particularly powerful to me.
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