17 - The struggle for ethno-religious equality in Britain: the place of the Muslim community

Summary

Introduction

Some decades ago, 'race' and gender became objects of equality struggles in Britain, as in many other places. For example, racial equality and sex-equality legislation was passed in the 1960s and 1970s. On the other hand, legislation in relation to religious discrimination and equality in the UK (outside Northern Ireland) has only been enacted in the past few years. This chapter considers how religious equality, and in particular the civic status of Muslims, has become a central feature of community relations and equal rights in Britain in the twenty first century. This involves considering the evolving and complex political and legal conceptions of racial and ethnic equality and how extending these conceptions to Muslims has created dilemmas for liberal egalitarians. Moreover, it is clear now that the political accommodation of Muslims and other post-immigration religious groups does not involve simply a commitment to religious pluralism but rethinking the nature and limits of secularism in the British context.