Are Muslims in Europe an Under Class?

Most Muslim immigrants have come to Western Europe from former colonies of European countries as a source of low-skilled labour. An important body of literature has examined the economic disparities between European Muslims and non-Muslims and shed light on the ways in which this inequality has affected current political debates on national identity and immigration in the various countries of the European Union.

In the last decade, a new thread of this literature has shed light on what might be described as a ‘Muslim underclass’. This controversial term refers to less social mobility and the persistence of discrimination, even when the level of education or resources of Muslims are comparable to other immigrant groups. This paper intends to review this new thread of the literature on immigration and Islam  and its influence on the forms of political mobilization of Muslim populations through the example of France, the UK and Germany in contrast with other factors like education, age, religion and securitization.