A Q&A with Professor of Political 科学 法学博士Pupcenoks on his new book

最近，媒体关系办公室与布朗博士进行了交谈. 法学博士Pupcenoks, 政治学助理教授, bet亚洲365欢迎投注他的新书, Western Muslims and Conflicts Abroad: Conflict Spillovers to Diasporas (2016, 劳特利奇), which looks at the way different Muslim immigrant communities respond to political upheaval and violence in their homelands and other Muslim lands. 以下是经过编辑和浓缩的采访内容.

你是怎么对这门学科感兴趣的?

我是上世纪八九十年代在拉脱维亚长大的.  After the fall of the Soviet Union there were a lot of tensions between Russians and Latvians. In graduate school I was looking at growing Muslim immigration to Europe and I saw some parallels. There were tensions between immigrant Muslim and native populations all around Europe. I thought this might be very important for Europe in the future – how to integrate these growing Muslim populations. 欧洲的自然增长率一直在下降, so it’s been clear for some time that Europe needs more immigrant workers and that they would come largely from the surrounding Muslim countries. 这当然是一个非常重要的问题.

给我们简要地总结一下这本书和它所提出的论点.

The book looks at how different Muslim communities react to foreign policy events both in general, 以及伊拉克和阿富汗战争, 特别是. 我的案例是底特律的阿拉伯穆斯林和伦敦的巴基斯坦人. 他们在很多方面都是非常不同的群体, 但他们有一个共同点——他们在政治上非常活跃. So, 我想知道, can we better understand why there has been political violence in London’s politically active Pakistani community while Detroit’s politically active Arab-Muslim community has remained peaceful? 

2006年就是一个例子, 以色列正在轰炸真主党在黎巴嫩的据点, 这在底特律引起了很大的反响. 据报道有10个,000人在迪尔伯恩郊区游行，抗议爆炸事件, 其中许多是黎巴嫩人或黎巴嫩裔美国人. 但 when they are done marching and protesting, they go home, go to work, and pay taxes. 没有暴力和恐怖主义. 在伦敦, we see terrorist acts by misguided individuals who claim they are doing this in retaliation for what the British and Americans have done in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Detroit, no instances of radicalization and violent terrorism that I know of. 这是为什么呢??

I found that –  when it comes to foreign policy issues – Western Muslim communities mobilize based primarily on their ethnic divisions, 基于他们所信仰的伊斯兰教教派, 基于国籍, 基于种族. 不同的穆斯林社区动员的方式不同, 尽管他们似乎都在阿拉伯/以色列冲突中动员起来. 但, 大体上, internal differences matter more than commonalities when Western Muslim communities respond to foreign policy events.

这是有道理的.  当你想到美国的拉丁美洲人, 我们并没有把他们作为一个庞大的无差别的天主教徒群体来研究, 尽管他们大多数是天主教徒.  相反，我们把他们当作哥伦比亚人、墨西哥人等来研究.  我们观察他们的种族并注意到差异.  这些差异影响了他们的政治活动. 

在国内问题上，情况有所不同.  穆斯林身份, 而不是对某个国家或伊斯兰教派的认同, 哪个更重要?. They frequently mobilize in reaction to perceived Islamophobia or to laws which are perceived to be unfair or policing practices which are perceived as unfair to Muslims. 所以你有, 一方面，一方面, 穆斯林为了国内问题动员起来, 另一方面, 穆斯林沿着宗派进行动员, ethnic and other identity differences when it comes to foreign policy.

群体反应的主要区别是什么?

My research shows that there are four factors that create an environment where political violence is more likely to happen in reaction to foreign policy events: immigration policies allowing for the inflow of violent radicals; economic deprivation without extensive civil society ties; the existing presence of radicals in given Muslim communities; and connections between misguided individuals in Muslim communities and radical networks abroad.

你提到了社区联系. What can other communities learn from a place like Detroit in terms of the relationships with police and civic institutions that help these communities express themselves politically in a peaceful and productive manner?

底特律就是一个引人入胜的例子. It has very politically active Arab and Muslim communities, and half of the Arabs are 基督徒. Arab, Muslim, South Asian Muslim, Arab Christian – all these populations - are very active.  有些组织对外交政策事件直言不讳.  There is a very healthy relationship between various Detroit Arab and Muslim community leaders and the media and civil society groups. 基督徒, 非基督徒, and law enforcement agencies – all meet regularly with other community leaders to discuss issues. 这些联系培养了对美国机构的大量信任.  这种关系在伦敦基本不存在. 更多的不信任. There is more ‘top down’ approach by the British government even as it seeks partners in Muslim communities. 信任更少了, 更少的连接, and I think that’s one big reason why we see political violence in London in reaction to foreign policy.

When you look at the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe and the debate about accepting refugees here in the U.S., what does that mean in terms of what the implications for the communities that are taking them in, 无论自愿与否?

在美国S there is this unfounded and exaggerated fear of Syrian refugees. 在美国很少有叙利亚难民, and we have historically had a very good screening process for of immigrants, 正在工作的难民.  欧洲已经接收了很多叙利亚难民. Germany alone has probably accepted close to half a million in 2015 alone.  What happens in Europe depends on how successful Germany and others are at quickly integrating huge numbers of people. 但潜在的好处也是巨大的. There’s a fascinating economic study that shows that if Germany can successfully integrate these half a million refugees in the next decade or so, 这将带来显著的好处.

bet亚洲365欢迎投注这个话题有什么总结的想法吗?

重要的是不要反应过度. 在美国.S.美国大约有300万穆斯林. 他们中有少数人参与了暴力行为. 他们中的少数人同情暴力极端分子. 绝大多数美国穆斯林都是自豪的公民. So, it’s important not to stigmatize the entire community because of a handful of misguided individuals or criminals who have committed atrocious acts for which there is no justification.