Introduction

This chapter examines the debate on the supposed crisis and even death of multiculturalism in Europe. It aims, in particular, at analysing the limits and potentialities of the Italian (Allievi 2010: 147–80; Triadafyllidou 2006: 117–42; Zincone 1994) and UK (Malik 2010: 11–64; Modood 2006: 37–56; Parekh 2006; Phillips 2007) political systems, two interesting and contrasting case studies. To address this issue, a strategic point of view has been chosen, namely the participation of Muslim women in the traditional spaces of politics, both at the local and at the national level. It should be recognised at this juncture that for women in general this kind of involvement is the most difficult to gain access to, even within contemporary Western settings. The additional merit of choosing the perspective of minority women stems from the fact that, in their case, participation not only implies the achievement of citizenship rights, a precondition that, for instance, in Italy has not yet been fulfilled, but also mastery of the material and symbolic tools of the political and cultural setting of the country; not to mention the capacity to clear the traditional social and cultural obstacles that keep women away from political representation in the first place. Adopting the lens of Muslim women's experiences, therefore, offers an insightful diagnosis of the Italian and British approach to cultural and religious pluralism and of the influence of gender on mainstream notions of citizenship and national identity.