Communautarism is rising more and more in Western societies. In France for instance there are a lot of tensions linked to that process.
Several factors explain this trend. First globalization is making the frontiers more vague ; for this reason people tend to have a need of identity. That is the reason why it may be said that communautarism responds to a need to build a kind of artificial identity. That is the reason why it is possible to say that this trend can result in a lack of strategy to this aspect.
These identity tensions look to benefit to some extremist organizations. For instace the muslim brothers. This organization is using social distress in French suburbs to impose its ideas. There is a strategy to build a long run process that will lead to progression of Islamism among French society. To this extend it seems necessary to educate more people, especially the youngsters, about the risks associated to radicalism.
It looks to be necessary to come back to the basics. In fact the current situation is very classical. If it results from a decline in the level of education, it looks that, in the previous ages, superstition for instance was linked to it as well. That is the reason why educating more and better is a necessity to build this trend in the long run. We can see that radical movements put teachers and preachers at the heart of their system. For this reason it is possible to add that a real education in education, into associations for instance, is a necessary step. Proudhon said that, “with culture, people is unstoppable”. Rebuilding new ways of ensuring education may be a necessary step in this context.
Moreover, it looks that many youngsters have a lack of knowledge of Arabic for instance, as many of them convert to Islam. This lack of education looks to damage a real constructive dialog concerning religion. That is the reason why culture is a real important asset, in my opinion, to fight communautarism. It looks that training real religious experts (imams, priests…) but also philosophers… to dialog with radicalized youngsters and defend more moderate models.
Organizations such as the Foundation of French Islam, which is very moderate, has too much the image, for instance, to be linked to power by many muslims in France. This approach is understandable, but it is as well defending a tolerant and liberal view of Islam ; moreover it is linked to high levels theologians who are defending very skillfully the real values of this religion. In Christianity, to the same extend, the rise of religious fundamentalism is worrying: for instance evangelists look to be a lot more successful that “classical” religious views. However it is possible to say that evangelists expand the same way in Africa or South America for instance. As well, in Israel, extreme right took a lot of importance to this extend. That is the reason why extremists are taking a lot of power in many places in the world, and the battle of ideas can also be played in this field.
It looks really detrimental to say that fighting for a liberal, meaning in this context moderate, view of religions is necessary to fight communautarism. It looks that a human engagement is necessary to build this view. In my opinion those radical ideologies lead to new kinds of oppression ; to this extend it is necessary to fight them. To the same extend fighting social distress is a necessity. Because, as often and as it has often been the case, religion is a refuge for those who suffer injustice, inequalities and exploitation.
The observer 