Jørgen Bæk Simonsen

Despite the public debate since 1980s presenting Islam in Denmark as a new phenomenon, it has for centuries played a central role as ‘the other’ when Danes have sought to explain their collective identity. It is true that many Danish Muslims arrived as a ‘guest workers’ in the boom years of the 1960s and stayed on. They were followed by their families and later refugees, although guest workers and refugees have by no means all been Muslim. Going further back, Islam and Muslims have been a part of Danish history for more than a millennium. Historically, the relationship between majority and minority populations and varying beliefs and social norms has always encompassed both opportunities and challenges. This remains the case today, and while elements of Danish society welcome the dynamics of the relationship, public debate frequently problematises it.