By: Anna Herman
Day in and day out we are exposed to the conflict between the Islamic world and the West. Whether it be through media stations or walking on campus, this political and cultural conflict has become a commonplace. This has become increasingly popular that when these cultures interact, it has become heavily based on images that are formed of Middle Eastern Muslims that the West has constructed and vice versa.
In Islam and the West: Narratives of Conflict and Conflict Transformation Nathan C. Funk and Abdul Aziz Said use a narrative analysis approach in order to discuss the story of intercultural confrontation and intercultural compatibility. The different stories of the cultures dramatically change from opposition towards one another to overarching themes when we step away from this conflict. Therefore, the authors refer to these overarching themes as constituting a single “story” of intercultural confrontation. The authors explain how the civilizations tend to cast one another in adversial roles. Westerners and Muslims have viewed the other civilization as unassimilable.
If we take a step back, think about viewing another civilization as “the other”. Personally, when I analyze it in this manner, it automatically makes the civilization foreign and not worth my time or consideration. By doing so, it unconsciously tells us that the civilization is inferior and all of the factors that construct it are unimportant. This is exactly what leads to the dehumanizing stereotypes and naive perceptions. Consequently, this guides our thinking to negative factors of a civilization overpowering the positive ones.
This is extremely present in the way Westerners view Muslims today. Often, the wide belief is that Islam is a violent religion, when the Qur’an teaches peace. We chose to ignore the facts and focus on the negativity due to the perception we have towards them as less than us. This entire situation worsened after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in which many Americans lost their lives. Ever since then, it created more division and animosity from the West towards Muslims.
On the other hand, the story of intercultural compatibility offers the view of Western and Middle Eastern Muslims consciously alike and can coexitst. The “second story” of intercultural compatibility is one that many academicians and diplomats value the difference between Western and Islamic civilizations. They also do not prompt Muslims and Westerners to unavoidable conflict. The similarity that both the West and Islam have is the common human heritage of “civilization”. Therefore, rather than demeaning one civilization as the “other”, one can take into consideration the many values they share as framework for understanding. The authors cite some of these values as respect for learning, desire for peace, esteem for toleration, and partisanship on behalf of human dignity.
The narrators of the story of intercultural compatibility place significant importance on that both Islam and the West have drawn heavily upon the Greek cultural heritage. Classic Islamic civilization was constructed from Arab, Biblicist, and Hellenic cultures. Additionally, it has incorporated Persian, Central Asian, and Indian workings within its cultural synthesis. This has created an even wider understanding and formed a link between the East and West, as Europeans were beneficiaries of what this had to offer. On the other hand, the Muslims benefited from trade with Europe.
Besides the shared appreciation for intellectual collaboration, the second story also advises against separating the communities in simple labels such as “Islamic” and “Westerners”. This groups both categories as homogenous rather than diverse. When in reality, both civilizations have a great amount of distinction in them. By labeling them as large, uniform groups, it ignores the conflicts or differing opinions between the groups that make up “the West’ or “Muslims”.
In David Frum’s article “How Much Immigration is Too Much?” he puts into perspective just how much immigration has increased and will continue to. He explains that by 2027, the foreign-born proportion of the United States population is estimated to match its all-time peak in 1890 of 14.8 percent.
Frum illuminates the benefits that this massive new wave of immigration haws brought to the United States, but he also touches on the social and political costs of it. Both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump have made comments about immigration hurting democracy. Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was heavily focused on anti-immigration. The extreme lengths that Trump is going to now has further increased the divide on the issue.
The very high levels of immigration have corresponded with widening class divisions, questioning of political and economic elites, and the rise of extremist politics. Overall, Frum makes the point that immigrants are often fleeing for better lives for a multitude of reasons. Therefore, how will the United States balance it and what kind of policies will it enforce? It is not a black or white question but one that has a significant amount of grey areas.
I strongly agree with Frum’s argument that there needs to be a balance. The United States is arguably one of the most powerful countries and has a significant amount of resources available to help immigrants, but it does not have unlimited assets. If policies are put in place that are either completely anti-immigration or open-borders, it will greatly hurt not only our country but individuals’ lives. We need to create a realistic balance or “right level of immigration” in order for democracy to continue to thrive and help out immigrants who are in need of a new home.
Additional Sources
Funk, Nathan. Said, Abdul. Islam and the West: Narratives of Conflict and Conflict Transformation.International Journal of Peace Studies, Volume 9, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2004.
Frum, David. How Much Immigration is Too Much? The Atlantic. April 2019. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/04/david-frum-how-much-immigration-is-too-much/583252/
Case Studies in an Inter/Multicultural World 