Conferences and debates
Index / Activities / Conferences and debates / Political and civic participation by Spanish Muslims
Political and civic participation by Spanish Muslims
October 29, 20157:00 p.m.
MADRID
Casa Árabe Auditorium (at Calle Alcalá, 62).
7:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
In Spanish.
Researcher Aitana Guia will be speaking about the Muslim community’s role in Spanish civil society from 1985 to today.
Participating in the discussion along with Aitana Guia, a researcher, and Max Weber Fellow, of the European University Institute, will be Ana Planet, a professor of the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and Pablo Zavala, director of the Spanish Transition Foundation. The event will be presented by Pedro Villena, the General Director of Casa Árabe.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Spanish democracy, the debates over the system’s achievements and deficiencies have increased. Nevertheless, something which often goes unnoticed is that this democracy was not built only upon the period known as “the Transition” (1975-82). It is during the consolidation and deeper building of democracy from 1982 to today that the framework agreed upon in the Transition has been applied (or not), and more specifically, the Constitution of 1978. It is precisely during this time period that new groups of people, including immigrants from North Africa and Latin America, have become main role-players in social movements in favor of the citizenry and fundamental rights. Religious pluralism and laws governing foreign nationals and immigration would not be what they are today without the contribution made by immigrants. Democracy in Spain is more inclusive now, and democratic practices have been enriched thanks to the fight for political and social rights by Spanish Muslims.
Aitana Guia
Ms. Guia is a Max Weber Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Her doctoral thesis, defended at York University (Toronto, Canada) has just been published as The Muslim Struggle for Civil Rights in Spain. Promoting Democracy through Migrant Engagement, 1985-2010. At present, Dr. Guia is completing a study on the new discourses against immigration, in particular Muslim immigration, in Italy and Spain.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Spanish democracy, the debates over the system’s achievements and deficiencies have increased. Nevertheless, something which often goes unnoticed is that this democracy was not built only upon the period known as “the Transition” (1975-82). It is during the consolidation and deeper building of democracy from 1982 to today that the framework agreed upon in the Transition has been applied (or not), and more specifically, the Constitution of 1978. It is precisely during this time period that new groups of people, including immigrants from North Africa and Latin America, have become main role-players in social movements in favor of the citizenry and fundamental rights. Religious pluralism and laws governing foreign nationals and immigration would not be what they are today without the contribution made by immigrants. Democracy in Spain is more inclusive now, and democratic practices have been enriched thanks to the fight for political and social rights by Spanish Muslims.
Aitana Guia
Ms. Guia is a Max Weber Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Her doctoral thesis, defended at York University (Toronto, Canada) has just been published as The Muslim Struggle for Civil Rights in Spain. Promoting Democracy through Migrant Engagement, 1985-2010. At present, Dr. Guia is completing a study on the new discourses against immigration, in particular Muslim immigration, in Italy and Spain.
