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The terrorist attacks at the start of the new millennium shook the world. In Western countries, the new threat of 'home-grown' Islamic terrorism has directed the authorities' attention towards local Muslim communities. Islamic terrorism is generally seen as a sign of the lack of integration of these communities. Authorities therefore often opt for preventive policies in which the engagement with Muslim organisations and spokespersons plays a significant role. However, this engagement comes with its own problems and dilemmas. Should authorities aim for a broad representation of the community or instead go for selective engagement? Are non-violent fundamentalist organisations also to be seen as the enemy? Should authorities enter into public debate with extremist organisations? Is it wise to link anti-radicalisation policies to more general integration policies?

This study focuses on the emergence and persistence of immigrant organisations in host societies. The relevance of immigrant organisations for both the host society and the immigrants themselves has been effectively demonstrated in many different studies. However, the question why immigrant organisations emerge and why they often persist over a long period is not adequately answered. In this study a comparative approach is used to reveal the structural determinants of the immigrant organising process. Different theoretical perspectives are combined (immigration model, social movement theory and the organisational ecology model). It is this combination of models, which has not yet been done by other scholars, which determines the value of this study and the contribution to a better understanding of the immigrant organising process. A comparative method is used, analysing Turkish organisations in Amsterdam and Berlin and Surinamese organisations in Amsterdam (1960-2000), to explain the way in which the three explanatory models can be combined in one coherent explanation. - This study focuses on the emergence and persistence of immigrant organisations in host societies. The relevance of immigrant organisations for both the host society and the immigrants themselves has been effectively demonstrated in many different studies. However, the question why immigrant organisations emerge and why they often persist over a long period is not adequately answered. In this study a comparative approach is used to reveal the structural determinants of the immigrant organising process. Different theoretical perspectives are combined (immigration model, social movement theory and the organisational ecology model). It is this combination of models, which has not yet been done by other scholars, which determines the value of this study and the contribution to a better understanding of the immigrant organising process. A comparative method is used, analysing Turkish organisations in Amsterdam and Berlin and Surinamese organisations in Amsterdam (1960-2000), to explain the way in which the three explanatory models can be combined in one coherent explanation.

Throughout Europe, authorities have set up new policy measures and programs to curb homegrown violent extremists. This article describes local policy responses to violent Islamic extremism-and/or the mere threat of it-in the neighborhoods Oost in Amsterdam, Moabit and Soldiner Kiez in Berlin, and Tower Hamlets in London. Based on locally conducted fieldwork, the study compares and contrasts these neighborhoods' approaches and aims to make a first assessment of their effects. A major finding for all three cities is that authorities target the entire local Muslim community rather than a few select individuals. This can lead to the construction of suspect communities, an approach with possible paradoxical effects on targeting actual violent extremists. Suspect communities subsequently create stigmatization, exclusion, and possibly marginalization, which not only has negative consequences for involved groups, but may well produce a breeding ground for future violence. However, the author did not find that engagement with Islamic organizations or individuals was used to directly change the nature of local Muslim communities. Orthodox and non-violent extremist organizations and individuals in all three cities were potential partners for engagement, which probably lowers the chance of stigmatizing the suspect communities. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis article examines the gap between the political engagement of Dutch citizens with an racialized immigrant background and those without one. Analyzing the effect of perceived cultural and religious inclusion and exclusion, we look into what citizens with an immigrant background make of politics—measured in what we call the evaluation gap—and their actual electoral behavior—measured in what we call the participation gap. Drawing from the 2021 Dutch Parliamentary Election Study and the 2021 Dutch Ethnic Minority Election Study, we include a uniquely broad range of immigrant backgrounds in our analysis. This combination of studies lets us transcend typical migrant/non-migrant dichotomies and include smaller, often understudied immigrant groups. Our analyses reveal that the evaluation gap is most pronounced for the largest, most-frequently studied immigrant groups, while the participation gap is most pronounced among commonly overlooked groups. Embeddedness in religious communities does not correlate with the evaluation gap though it does seem to suppress a deeper participation gap. Perceived discrimination, including in the form of underrepresentation, mobilizes citizens with an immigrant background, which obscures an underlying participation gap while also partly explaining the evaluation gap.