@incollection{8684444,
  abstract     = {{This paper investigates the relation between Church and State in Belgium, specifically applied to the relation between the Belgian government and Islamic Religious Education in the wake of the attacks of Paris and Brussels. Belgium is a constitutional monarchy characterized by the principle of Separation of Church and State.  Based on four provisions, I describe the relationship between the state and this principle as ‘mutual interdependence’. Belgium was also one of the first European countries to recognize Islam. However, Belgian-Islamic relationships have known difficulties ever since, and are characterized by  mistrust and suspicion. Islam-related policy has seen several shifts over the years, going from migration approaches to integration and assimilation. Moreover, in recent years the attacks in Paris (2015) and Brussels (2016), a shift in discourse has taken place towards  European/Belgian Enlightenment values and norms, liberalism, and the implicit expectation towards Muslims to adhere to ‘those’ values and norms. In this matter, the Action Plans Radicalisation points to the recognized bodies for Islam, the Executive of Muslims of Belgium (EMB) and Centre of Islamic Education (CIO) as partners in its deradicalization and counter-discourse policy. In order to do so, the EMB/CIO in presence of the Minister of Education signed two engagement statements, including expectations on the qualification of IRE teachers and competences on sensitive subjects and democratic values and norms. , respectively on 28 January and 9 November 2016. Concretely, Islamic religious education teachers (and imams) were asked to ‘actively’ contribute to de-radicalisation and counter-discourse (of Muslims). However, this method did not demonstrate an univocally or irrefutable effectivity, as the root causes of radicalization are complex and multi-layered. Nevertheless, education has the potential to play an positive role in a long-term perspective. As part of a transformative process, schools should be safe and free learning environments, and all teachers seen as role models. Taking all this into account, this paper asks the question whether  counter-terrorism policies give rise to contradictory demands on educators, asking them to build social cohesion and resilience while at the same time requiring them to employ a logic of suspicion towards their Muslim pupils? The dramatic events seem to have opened the door for policy makers to formulate explicit expectations towards EMB/CIO regarding de-radicalisation and counter-discourse. In this sense, they are clearly navigating the limits of the mutual interdependence regarding IRE.}},
  author       = {{Lafrarchi, Naïma}},
  booktitle    = {{Islamic studies in European higher education : navigating academic and confessional approaches}},
  editor       = {{Nielsen, Jorgen and Jones, Stephen}},
  isbn         = {{9781399510851}},
  keywords     = {{radicalisation,Islamic religious education,secondary education,Islam,Constitutional Law}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{151--177}},
  publisher    = {{Edinburgh University Press}},
  title        = {{Navigating alongside the limits of mutual interdependence : Flemish Islamic religious education}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1515/9781399510875-011}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}

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