Through a novel conceptual framework and probing interviews, Justin Gest gets to the heart of why so many Western Muslims are disaffected by their social and political situations and why they undermine the very political systems that remain their means of inclusion. He also considers why so many other Western Muslims feel differently and why they choose to be engaged.Based on research conducted in London's East End and Madrid's Lavapiés district, and drawing on over one hundred interviews with community elders, imams, extremists, politicians, gangsters, and ordinary people just trying to get by, Gest maps the daily experiences of young Muslim men. Confronting conventional explanations that point to inequality, discrimination, and religion, he builds a new theory that distinguishes alienated and engaged political behavior not by structural factors but by social agents and their interpretation of shared realities. Filled with counterintuitive conclusions, Apart sounds an unambiguous warning to Western policymakers, presaging an imminent American experience with the same challenges. The way in which governments and people discipline their fear and understand their Muslim fellows, it claims, may shape the course of democratic social life in the foreseeable future. Read Less