Islam and the West: Annual Report on the State of Dialogue

Economic <strong>and</strong> Socia
7Economic <strong>and</strong> Social Development
The world watched with horror as <strong>the</strong> very real in parts of <strong>West</strong>ern societies, several
rage of a young generation erupted in Muslim-majority countries are among <strong>the</strong>
violence in France in late 2005. The world’s poorest. The second issue is <strong>the</strong>
Paris suburbs were shaken by nightly riots for impact of unbalanced economic <strong>and</strong> social
almost two months. Many in <strong>the</strong> global media development in both <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Muslim
<strong>Islam</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong>: <strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on <strong>the</strong> State of Dialogue
86
Economic <strong>and</strong> Social Development
interpreted <strong>the</strong> events through <strong>the</strong> lens of
<strong>Islam</strong>ic radicalism. However, <strong>the</strong> evidence
suggests that <strong>the</strong> rioters – mainly <strong>the</strong> children
<strong>and</strong> gr<strong>and</strong>children of North African immigrants –
were driven by more mundane concerns: a
yawning gap between rhetoric about integration
<strong>and</strong> opportunity <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> realities of unemployment
<strong>and</strong> dismal prospects. Ano<strong>the</strong>r wave of riots
shook <strong>the</strong> Paris suburbs in November <strong>and</strong>
December 2007. “Given <strong>the</strong> way <strong>the</strong>se kids
live, I wonder why it doesn't happen more
often,” commented a scholar who studies
French-born Muslims. “The kids learn all <strong>the</strong>
French republican values such as equality in
school, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong>y find in practice that it's
an illusion… There is an enormous gap between
<strong>the</strong>ory <strong>and</strong> practice.”
Differing perceptions of economic <strong>and</strong> social
realities – <strong>and</strong> concern about gaps between
proposals to address social ills <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir
implementation – are important drivers of
relations between <strong>the</strong> <strong>West</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Muslim
world. Increasingly, actors within public
institutions <strong>and</strong> civil society are recognizing
<strong>and</strong> debating <strong>the</strong> interdependence of religious
<strong>and</strong> cultural dynamics with social <strong>and</strong> economic
conditions.
Dialogue efforts <strong>and</strong> concrete initiatives have
focused on two related issues. The first is
global disparities in wealth <strong>and</strong> welfare
between many <strong>West</strong>ern countries <strong>and</strong> most
Muslim majority countries. While poverty is
world. Here dialogue <strong>and</strong> programmes have
particularly focused on cultural <strong>and</strong> religious
minorities, many of <strong>the</strong>m recent immigrants,
who face economic <strong>and</strong> social marginalization
<strong>and</strong> exclusion.
The Global Dimension
How to speed economic growth <strong>and</strong> social
progress in <strong>the</strong> Muslim world is a central
str<strong>and</strong> of Muslim-<strong>West</strong> dialogue. The
challenge was underscored in February 2006
by Dr. Ahmad Hasyim Muzadi, President of
<strong>the</strong> Nahdat al-Ulama, Indonesia’slargest
<strong>Islam</strong>ic organization, with some 40 million
members: “In a community of poverty <strong>and</strong>
ignorance, it is generally easier to be involved
in <strong>the</strong> use of violence, irrespective of <strong>the</strong>ir
religious beliefs,” he told <strong>the</strong> Assembly of <strong>the</strong>
World Council of Churches in Porto Alegre,
Brazil. Muzadi highlighted <strong>the</strong> need for “more
intensive efforts to systematically eradicate
poverty <strong>and</strong> increase <strong>the</strong> equality <strong>and</strong> quality
of education, including <strong>the</strong> need to provide a
cross subsidy between wealthy countries <strong>and</strong>
poor countries.”
In August 2007, Organization of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Islam</strong>ic
Conference (OIC) Secretary-General Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu also focused sharply on <strong>the</strong> importance
of development. “Most of <strong>the</strong> Muslim world
today [confronts] <strong>the</strong> formidable challenges of
poverty alleviation <strong>and</strong> social <strong>and</strong> economic
development,” he told a conference in Tashkent.
“We need to invest in our vast human resource,