In September 2016 the Hungarian government published a map of the no-go zones in Western Europe. According to the fact sheet, no-go zones are areas of cities that the authorities are unable to control. The issue has provoked strong international reactions, with almost all embassies concerned protesting against the map, including the Swedish, British, German and French embassies. The controversy, which then spilled over into our country, has been going on in the West for decades. But what does a ‘no-go’ zone mean according to the literature, and if that is an inaccurate description, what words can we use to describe a well-known reality that few would dare deny since the Amsterdam pogrom and the Hamas protests?
The above dilemma is what Viktor Marsai, Omar Sayfo, and Kristóf György Veres try to unravel in their book Whose Space Is It? Parallel Societies and Urban Enclaves in Western Europe, published this year by MCC Press. The authors are experts in the field of migration and Islamism, and have personally conducted numerous research trips to countries where migration flows out from or to important Western destinations.
As the authors point out, mass immigration has created hundreds of neighbourhoods where the street scene and social culture are different from those of the majority population: social conditions and public safety are worse than elsewhere, the authorities follow special protocols, or some members of the majority community simply feel uncomfortable. The existence of the problem is almost universally acknowledged, but the difference is mainly in the way it is assessed and, of course, in the way such neighbourhoods are named.
The book argues that the issue of immigrant neighbourhoods is complex and multifaceted, and cannot be examined in the simple terms of political discourse. Despite seemingly similar patterns at first glance, immigration and its consequences have taken a specific form in each country, with the masses arriving at different times from different regions and ethnic groups and from different countries of origin, and with different political and social cultures and constructions of national identity in the host countries.
‘Despite seemingly similar patterns at first glance, immigration and its consequences have taken a specific form in each country’
Whose Space Is It? first explores the background and logic of the physical segregation of immigrants, showing how immigrant neighbourhoods have developed in different Western and Northern European countries. It then discusses the terminology used in the political discourses of the different countries and how the term ‘no-go zone’, initially used in civil war contexts, has become a term used to refer to immigrant neighbourhoods.
The book then looks at the ‘cultural baggage’ brought to Europe by immigrants, showing how the construction of identity by immigrant communities of different European identities makes integration difficult, and how the ‘import of spouses’ or family reunification from the countries of origin contributes to the preservation of different cultures.
Since the success of integration depends to a large extent on the policies of the host countries, the volume devotes a special chapter to the differences in integration strategies between the various European states, which are the result of their historical traditions. It then looks at the differences between education policies in immigrant neighbourhoods and their impact on immigrants’ labour market integration.
The differences in the cultural images of immigrant neighbourhoods from different backgrounds are often as great as those between the majority population and immigrant neighbourhoods in general. Whose Space Is It? also pays particular attention to the factors that determine the internal culture of such neighbourhoods. Language itself is the first thing they look at, seeking to answer the question of whether it is true that in some neighbourhoods it is no longer possible to get by in the official language of the country. The book then looks at the patterns in the organization of religious life in immigrant neighbourhoods. In the penultimate chapter, the phenomena most frequently reported in the news and which are the most feared by the public are discussed. These include crime, ‘clan crime’, street riots and antisemitism. Finally, the book also refers to the specificities of the Latino community in the US.
Overall, the result is a thorough, well-annotated summary, taking into account the most recent literature and making excellent use of it. The book covers all the important issues in the field of no-go zones and presents the Western situation without repeating political slogans. The book is recommended to all readers interested in migration, Islamism, and the future of Europe.
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