News from the field and Muslims in Europe: the Portuguese case

Abstract

In 2000 I developed the theory of the marginalization of the phenomenon of the New Islamic Presence in Portuguese public life. With recent developments affecting this whole field, it is time to reassess that theory. Prior to this, the article provides a brief introduction to the context of the Muslim presence in Europe, underlining certain specific aspects of the Portuguese case. I focus on four new developments which have raised issues in this area: (i) new patterns of immigration; (ii) the maturing of the second generation; (iii) greater public interest following September 11; (iv) the discovery of the medieval past. In order to cover the full range of dynamics in this field, I put forward for discussion three distinct historical stages: pre-decolonization, decolonization and post-decolonization.