Fears that British universities are hotbeds of Islamic radicalism have been exaggerated, academics have said. A Cambridge University report found most young British Muslims were not a threat.
The study, based on interviews with students in London, Cambridge and Bradford, concluded they were better integrated into society than their parents.
June Edmunds, of the university’s Centre for Development Studies, said: “The findings show that the young Muslims best equipped to lead radical opposition to western society are also among the least inclined to do so.
“Although a minority have extreme political views, most are concerned about human rights and social democracy.
“The UK, in particular, now hosts a new generation of Muslims who are more confident of their national identity and more politically engaged than their parents.”
She added: “The overall picture is of a new, settled generation of young Muslims whose interests and needs differ from those of the previous, immigrant generation.”
Press Association, 3 December 2008
Well, that’s not going to please Anthony Glees, is it?
See also June Edmunds’ piece at Comment is Free, 2 December 2008
Update: Glees is indeed unhappy. See his comments in “Study challenges claims of Islamic extremism among students” on theGuardian website. Glees accuses the report’s authors of “flimsy and uncompelling” research and expresses his amazement that the Economic and Social Research Council should fund it. Presumably the ESRC’s money would be better spent supporting Glees’s own irresponsible, fear-mongering attacks on Muslim students.
Further update: Glees now has an entire blog post replying to June Edmunds. His basic argument is that a handful of individuals found guilty of terrorist offences had previously attended colleges in the UK – though of course he fails to establish any causal link between the two. And this is the man who accuses others of “flimsy and uncompelling” research.
Yet another update: See June Edmunds’ response to Glees, “Study was informed by wide research“.
One more update: The Centre for Social Cohesion denounces the Cambridge study as “inaccurate and unrepresentative”.