The political representation of Muslims in Brussels

Compared with other major European cities, the Brussels-Capital Region has a unique configuration in terms of the political representation of elected representatives descended from diverse ethnocultural groups, and in particular Muslim elected representatives. Nearly one out of five members of the P...

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Main Author: Fatima Zibouh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Université libre de Bruxelles - ULB 2011-12-01
Series:Brussels Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1072
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author Fatima Zibouh
author_facet Fatima Zibouh
author_sort Fatima Zibouh
collection DOAJ
description Compared with other major European cities, the Brussels-Capital Region has a unique configuration in terms of the political representation of elected representatives descended from diverse ethnocultural groups, and in particular Muslim elected representatives. Nearly one out of five members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region is of Muslim origin. This is all the more unique given that, for the first time in Brussels and in the entire European Union, one of the seats in the Brussels Parliament is held by a Muslim member who wears a headscarf (Mahinur Ozdemir). The present article is based on documentary work as well as an empirical approach carried out using interviews which were conducted with Brussels MPs and community stakeholders mobilised before the elections as well as an ethnographic observation of the election campaign. Its objective is to understand the explanatory factors regarding this political representation which is quite unusual in Europe, by formulating the hypothesis of the deciding influence of institutional parameters combined with the demographic evolution and community mobilisation of Muslims in Brussels.
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spelling doaj-art-fa9cfa986a7742928c4772e4e49593ba2025-08-20T03:58:04ZengUniversité libre de Bruxelles - ULBBrussels Studies2031-02932011-12-0110.4000/brussels.1072The political representation of Muslims in BrusselsFatima ZibouhCompared with other major European cities, the Brussels-Capital Region has a unique configuration in terms of the political representation of elected representatives descended from diverse ethnocultural groups, and in particular Muslim elected representatives. Nearly one out of five members of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region is of Muslim origin. This is all the more unique given that, for the first time in Brussels and in the entire European Union, one of the seats in the Brussels Parliament is held by a Muslim member who wears a headscarf (Mahinur Ozdemir). The present article is based on documentary work as well as an empirical approach carried out using interviews which were conducted with Brussels MPs and community stakeholders mobilised before the elections as well as an ethnographic observation of the election campaign. Its objective is to understand the explanatory factors regarding this political representation which is quite unusual in Europe, by formulating the hypothesis of the deciding influence of institutional parameters combined with the demographic evolution and community mobilisation of Muslims in Brussels.http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1072immigrationmulticulturalismpolitical staff
spellingShingle Fatima Zibouh
The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
Brussels Studies
immigration
multiculturalism
political staff
title The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
title_full The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
title_fullStr The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
title_full_unstemmed The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
title_short The political representation of Muslims in Brussels
title_sort political representation of muslims in brussels
topic immigration
multiculturalism
political staff
url http://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1072
work_keys_str_mv AT fatimazibouh thepoliticalrepresentationofmuslimsinbrussels
AT fatimazibouh politicalrepresentationofmuslimsinbrussels