Constructing Difference: The Mosque Debates in Greece

摘要

After two decades of immigration, contemporary Greek society is characterised by cultural and religious diversity. We argue here, however, that the challenges posed by migration-related diversity are not yet sufficiently addressed in institutional or normative terms. Rather, dominant national self-understandings remain mono-cultural and mono-religious, while accommodation of this diversity is not yet approached in inclusive and integrating ways. Media and parliamentary debates regarding the construction of a mosque in the capital, Athens, are explored in this context. Dominant understandings of Greek national identity are discussed in this article, together with the ways in which difference is framed in current public discourses, and the actors and values that structured the debate on the accommodation of the religious needs of Greece's Muslim immigrant population.