Political Appraisals Constituting Tolerant versus Radical Identities: An Empirical Comparison between Dutch and British Muslims

Abstract

This article discusses the questions, how Dutch and British Muslims perceive centrality of Islam, political salience, and the way political institutions mirror (reflected appraisals) on their perceptions of conflict. In other words, the focus of this analysis is to measure the impact of the independent variables political actors’ trust, Muslim identity and how this association may constitute radical or tolerant identities in relation with the religious and political salience. The constructivist argument postulates the central premise of this study, which is that ‘identities’ should not be treated as fixed, but rather as ‘socially constructed’. This core premise of the constructivist approach postulates that religious identities are subject to change too. Studies discussed in this paper suggest a model wherein identities and institutions are closely associated with each other, and that political narratives can affect identities positively or negatively. This may either constitute identities to be superordinate, overlapping as in multiple identities or on the contrary impose fixed identities that are more prone to perceptions of conflict. This constructivist vision attains a significant role to how identity-formation impacts social order and attitudes of peace. This constructivist approach has gained importance in the field of political sciences in the last twenty years as a response to the neo-realist and neo-liberal understanding of power and dependency in relation to conflict and peace attitudes. Constructivism argues that the concept of identity should be treated equally as a defining and explanatory variable for human behaviour. Therefore, identity should not be overlooked or be perceived as just an intervening variable. Identity should thus be treated as a independent variable in the realm of political sciences and international relations. This article infers from survey data conducted in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom that institutional appraisals do matter and that institutional appraisals affect the openness or closedness of Muslim identity and their perceptions towards conflict.

Keywords

• identity
• constructivism
• conflict
• political trust
• institutional support

Siyasi Söylemlerin Oluşturduğu Radikal ve Tolerant Kimlikler: Hollanda ve Ingiltere Üzerine Ampirik Araştırma

Öz

Bu araştırmanın amacı, Hollanda ve İngiltere gibi Demokratik Batı toplumlarında yaşayan Müslüman bireylerin dinî ve siyasî kimliğini incelemektir. Batı’da varlığını sürdüren Müslüman kimliğine aşırı sağcı akımlardan yansıyan tehditleri incelemek düşüncesi araştırmamızın ortaya çıkmasında başrolü oynamıştır. Çünkü bu tehditler fiilen siyasî hayata yansıdığı gibi literatüre de yansımaktadır. Ayrıca bu olumsuz tutumlar Batı’da Müslüman birey imajını zedelemekte ve genel manada söz konusu bireylerin yaşadığı toplumda olumsuz ve çatışmacı kimlikler olarak okunmasına neden olmaktadır. Yaptığım bu çalışma Müslüman kimliğinin siyasî kurumlara karşı tutumunu ve algısını, bununla beraber bu kimliğin toplumsal rolünün hangi faktörler tarafından etkilendiğine odaklanmaktadır. Bu çalışmamda kantitatif araştırma yöntemleri kullanılmıştır. Bu kullanımdaki gaye ise, inşacılık teorisi üzerinden bahsi geçen iki köklü demokratik ülkeden elde edilen dataların, literatürde geçen yapı ve ölçeklerin de kullanılarak analiz edilmesiyle sorunsala daha sağlıklı bakabilmeyi sağlayacağı düşüncesidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• kimlik
• Azınnlıklar
• İnşacılık
• Güven
• Kurumsal Güven

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