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Bi-Weekly Discussion - The Future of Islam in Europe

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Brian B.
Bi-Weekly Discussion - The Future of Islam in Europe

Details

We're currently hosting our discussions at Café Walnut, not too far from our summer meeting spot in Washington Square Park. The cafe is near the corner of 7th & Walnut in Olde City. The cafe's entrance is below street level down some stairs, which can be confusing if it's your first time. Our group meets in the large room upstairs.

Since we're using the cafe's space, they ask that each person attending the meetup at least purchase a drink or snack. Please don't bring any food or drinks from outside. If you're hungry enough to eat a meal, they have more substantial fare such as salads, soups & sandwiches which are pretty good and their prices are reasonable.

The cafe is fairly easy to get to if you're using public transit. With SEPTA, take the Market-Frankford Line & get off at the 5th Street Station (corner of 5th & Market), and walk 2 blocks south on 5th and then turn right on Walnut Street and walk 2 blocks west. With PATCO, just get off at the 9th-10th & Locust stop and walk 3 blocks east & 1 block north. For those who are driving, parking in the neighborhood can be tough to find. If you can't find a spot on the street, I'd suggest parking in the Washington Square parking deck at 249 S 6th Street which is just a half block away.

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THE REPERCUSSIONS FROM THE E.U. MIGRANT CRISIS & THE FUTURE OF ISLAM IN EUROPE

In our last discussion, we addressed the immigration debate in the U.S., and looked at the way political psychology & political philosophy can help us understand why people adopt different frameworks (implicitly or explicitly) for understanding citizenship & immigration. We then addressed the economic, social & political implications of the large numbers of Hispanic immigrants that have settled primarily in the American Southwest over the last 40 years. Much of that material will be relevant to this discussion, which will address the impacts of Muslim immigration to Europe. In the interest of covering new ground rather than rehashing old material, it may be valuable for people to briefly review the previous discussion outline:
https://www.meetup.com/Philadelphia-Political-Agnostics/events/xvbrznyxlbhb/

This meetup will begin by addressing both the economic impacts of the 2015-2016 migrant crisis in Europe, as well as the broader issue of how immigration from predominately Muslim countries affects the Europe - with a particular focus on the sustainability of European welfare states and the open border policy of the EU's "Schengen area".

In the second section, we'll turn to look at the political effects of the migrant crisis & Europe's rising Muslim population on European politics. We'll look not only at the rising importance of Muslim voters & Muslim politicians, but also at the alliance European Muslims have forged with left-wing parties (a.k.a. "Islamo-leftism") and the recent nativist backlash that has led to the rise of far right parties in Europe.

In the third section, we'll look at some debates over the demigraphic makeup of the recent influx of migrants & refugees since 2015, as well as the broader debate over the demographic effects of the rising Muslim population in Europe due to immigration & higher birth rates, as well as conversion. In the near term, this has sparked outcries over "white flight" and the "browning" and/or "Islamicization" of certain neighborhoods & towns in Europe, but also there are fears on the political right that the Muslim population will become a majority in Europe by mid century - a.k.a. the "Eurabia" scenario.

In the last section, we'll address the evidence we have on the rate of assimilation of Muslims into Europe's secular culture & the norms of modern liberal democracy (e.g. freedom of speech, church-state separation, women's rights, gay rights, etc.). We'll try to connect the empirical data on these trends to the debate over whether or not Islam needs something analogous to the "Reformation" or "Enlightenment", and whether or not Europe could provide the environment under which a transformation of Islam could occur.

NOTE: This discussion will be immediately preceded by a related but narrower discussion hosted by Skeptics in the Pub, running from 1-3pm, on some of the allegations about a "migrant crime epidemic" that have been swirling around the 2014-2015 migrant crisis in Europe, as well concerns about radicalization among Europe's growing Muslim population. To check out the discussion outline & RSVP, go here: https://www.meetup.com/Philly-Skeptics/events/251759967/

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DIRECTIONS ON HOW TO PREPARE FOR OUR DISCUSSION:

The videos & articles you see linked below are intended to give you a basic overview of some of the scholarly frameworks we can use for assessing the debates over the EU migrant crisis and the future of Islam in Europe. As usual, I certainly don't expect you to read all the articles & watch all the videos prior to attending our discussion. The easiest way to prepare for our discussion is to just watch the numbered video clips linked under each section - the videos come to about 43 minutes total. If you can't watch all of them, don't worry - just watch as much as you can.

The articles marked with asterisks are just there to supply additional details. You can browse and look at whichever ones you want, but don't worry - we'll cover the stuff you missed in our discussion.

In terms of the discussion format, my general idea is that we'll address the topics in the order presented here. I figure we'll spend about 30 minutes on each section.

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I. BREXIT & THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF MIGRANTS ON THE EUROZONE & EUROPEAN WELFARE STATES:

1a) Euronews - Real Economy, "The economic impact of Europe's refugee crisis" (video - 8:13 min, start at 0:11)
https://youtu.be/LbCqfM13G8k?t=11

1b) TLDR News, "Does Europe Actually Need More Immigrants?" (video - 7:21 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2XqCqxFFt0

II. THE INFLUENCE OF ISLAM ON EUROPE'S POLITICS: THE MUSLIM VOTE, ISLAMO-LEFTISM & THE NATIVIST BACKLASH

2a) Al Jazeera, "Taking the pulse of the UK's Muslim voters [in 2010]" (video - 2:38 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6PIXBTExA

2b) Euronews, "Islam Party stirs controversy ahead of Belgian elections [2018]" (video - 2:08 min.)
https://youtu.be/cOIy2k9ZALg

2c) NowThis World, "Why Right-Wing Groups Are On The Rise In Europe" (video - 3:16 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaWGCaNj1Vw

III. THE DEBATE OVER THE DEMOGRAPHICS OF THE MIGRANTS, WHITE FLIGHT & FEARS OF "EURABIA" BY 2050:

3a) RT w/ Valerie Hudson, "Sweden didn’t consider women when it took in migrant men disproportionately" (video - 2:22 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dRoyUViRQY

3b) RT, "White Flight: Diversity extremes push Londoners' exodus" (video - 4:10 min.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaGcpdYHfxM

3c) Pew Research, "Facts about the Muslim Population in Europe [in 2016]" (video - 4:52 min.)
https://youtu.be/Hc0E3_oKPbc

IV. MUSLIM ASSIMILATION & THE POSSIBILITY OF AN "ISLAMIC REFORMATION" IN EUROPE BY 2050:

4a) Gallup World Poll [2007], "Muslim Identity [in Europe]" (video - 2:30 min)
https://youtu.be/04ETnwmqNy8

4b) Good Morning Britain w/ Yalta Ahmad, "How Integrated Are British Muslims [in 2017]? (video - 3:46 min)
https://youtu.be/uPTIltHu9jE

4c) Dilly Hussain, "Does Islam Need A Reformation?" (video - 2:57 min, start at 0:34)
https://youtu.be/tlIucWD7R5Q?t=34

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Cafe Walnut
703 Walnut Street · Philadelphia, PA
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