Jytte Klausen

Jytte Klausen is the Lawrence A. Wien Professor of International Cooperation at Brandeis University and an Affiliate at the Center for European Studies at Harvard University. She is the author of The Cartoons That Shook the World about the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad and the worldwide protests that followed their publication. This book has itself become a source of controversy as its publisher reneged at the last minute on its commitment to publish the illustrations as included in the book, raising serious questions concerning free speech, Dr. Klausen, who has made the study of Islam her life’s work, denies that there is anything in her book which would be offensive to mainstream Muslims. She questions whether acute political correctness is the cause of the prestigious academic press’s change of mind on its publication in its entirety or whether the problem is more due to fear of offending radical Islamic fundamentalists and incurring their wrath and possible terrorist acts.

Her previous books include The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe, published German and Turkish translations, and numerous books and articles on immigrant integration, the European welfare state, and social inclusion. Her new work is on the emergence of Western Jihadism.

In 2007, Klausen received the Carnegie Scholars’ Award for research on the integration of Muslim faith communities in Europe.

Klausen was a British Academy Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and a Bosch Public Policy Fellow at The American Academy in Berlin. She has a PhD from the New School for Social Research and a BA and MA from the University of Aarhus, Denmark.