Secularism v Islam
Author Olivier Roy talks about why he believes both models are in a crisis.
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| Olivier Roy talks about his new book Secularism Confronts Islam [GALLO/GETTY] |
As the number of Muslims living in Europe and America continues to grow so too do questions concerning how these diverse communities fit into Western societies. The US currently pursues a policy of multiculturalism believing that it is possible to be a ‘good citizen’ while maintaining a cultural identity that is not the dominant one. While France and other European nations pursue an ‘integration’ model whereby access to citizenship means that national identity takes precedence over ethnic or religious identities.
On Tuesday’s Riz Khan we talk to author and scholar Olivier Roy, who, in his most recent work, Secularism Confronts Islam says that both models are in crisis. Guest host Anand Naidoo asks Roy whether or not Islam and secularism are compatible and whether the current perceived conflict between the West and Islam is driven by cultural differences or prejudice.
Roy is a research director at the French National Center for Scientific Research and a lecturer at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences. He has written extensively on the subject of political Islam including The Failure of Political Islam, Globalised Islam: The search for a new ummah and Today’s Turkey: A European State?
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This episode of Riz Khan aired on Tuesday, November 20, 2007
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