Constructing and Deconstructing Islam in the Western State: A Comparative Look at the Politicization of Religion in France, Great Britain, and the United States, 1945-2008

This dissertation is a broad story of the selective 'de-secularization' of politics within the Western state. Through a comparative longitudinal study of governmental policies in Britain, France, and the United States, I uncover and illuminate the different conditions under which religion has risen to the forefront of state agendas as a problem to be addressed and as a solution for the Western state in its quest to incorporate its domestic Muslim community. My research explores the historical roots of how religion came to be politicized within the Western state in the 1990s and offers a comparative analysis of contemporary policies. I adapt Guiraudon and Lahav's theory of venue shopping and delegation, coupled with insights from earlier work on buffer institutions in the context of race relations, to examine how the strategic use of institutional venue by state actors sought to reconcile the competing security and incorporation imperatives. I argue that venue-shopping is a strategy employed by British, French, and American elites in order to circumvent constraints imposed by politicization of national security and Muslim incorporation issues as well as harness the benefits of a more insulated process and third-party partnerships, particularly with Muslim leaders and organizations. I conceptualize both the restrictive measures (security as well as targeted, discriminatory 'integration' initiatives) that have received the bulk of the attention in the post-9/11 context as well as the more inclusive measures that have been the focus of separate scrutiny as interconnected responses by policy-makers. In doing so, I provide an assessment of the post-9/11 context and how the development of state policies countering terrorism has affected Muslim incorporation policies.