The Mosque Conflict in Catalonia

In this enlightening book, Martin Lundsteen masterfully unveils the political and economic fabric of an apparent “cultural conflict.” The Mosque Conflict carefully traces the connections between spatial valorization and the devaluation of migrant labor, pointing to processes of contemporary capitalism that are hidden in plain sight. -- Susana Narotzky, University of Barcelona
Drawing on a controversy over a mosque in a small town near Barcelona, Martin Lundsteen deftly weaves together analysis of class, place, space, and racism as they play into one another in the context of urban transformation shaped by shifts in the local and geopolitical landscape. -- Nicholas Van Hear, emeritus fellow, University of Oxford
Through a historical-ethnographic reconstruction of an infamous mosque conflict in Catalonia, Lundsteen unravels the political and economic logics that underpin opposition to mosque siting in Spain and Europe more broadly. As Lundsteen compellingly argues, class contradictions, capital accumulation and real estate expansion are key drivers of these conflicts, yet these processes tend to get buried under media and expert narratives that present such conflicts as the consequence of cultural incompatibility and religious intolerance. Showing how xenophobic discourses and far-right political parties feed off of such culturalist explanations, The Mosque Conflictin Catalonia makes clear that we evacuate political economy at our own peril. -- Jaume Franquesa, University at Buffalo, SUNY; author of Power Struggles: Dignity, Value and the Renewable Energy Frontier in Spain