France, the Veil and Religious Freedom

Adrian, Melanie

doi:10.1080/09637490903315385

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…It has been further documented how Islam operates as a racialised identity inscribed on Muslims' bodies through the hegemonic banning of headscarves (Davidson, 2012;Hancock, 2015;Hancock and Mobillion, 2019;Limage, 2000;Rootham, 2015), an institution which Secor (2002) refers to as 'regimes of veiling'. Furthermore, research demonstrates that the veil plays a symbolic role in individual-state and community-state dynamics over laïcité's role in sociopolitical power distribution, the politics of identification, and the politics of embodiment (Adam-Troian et al, 2019;Adrian, 2009;Easat-Daas, 2017;Jansen, 2006;Selby, 2011;Werbner, 2007).…”

Section: Laïcité Islam and Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

Education, secularism, and illiberalism: Marginalisation of Muslims by the French state

Hauser

2021

French Cultural Studies

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Laïcité, France’s idiosyncratic principle of secularism, is a unique term that today engenders state forms of illiberalism, especially against marginalised communities in France. French Muslims experience instances of discrimination and ‘othering’ as the state endorses illiberal policies in the name of laïcité. These state acts of symbolic violence transgress political geographies and affect French Muslims’ perceptions of identification, citizenship, and belonging. Building on nine interviews with French Muslim higher education students, this article demonstrates ways in which illiberalism operates in the lives of French Muslim higher education students. It identifies the role of the French secular school in the making of gendered Islamophobia. This article serves as means for better understanding the lived experiences of French Muslims and recognising the socio-political changes that need to be made in France to protect and empower marginalised groups against state illiberalism.

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Section: Laïcité Islam and Gendermentioning

confidence: 99%

Education, secularism, and illiberalism: Marginalisation of Muslims by the French state

Hauser

2021

French Cultural Studies

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“…Several studies have pointed out the pitfalls of this system and drawn attention to the unequal representations it can sustain. Researchers have cast light on the bias of secularism in France toward Catholicism and the concomitant pressures it puts on Islam and Muslims (Adrian, 2009; Bhandar, 2009; Doyle, 2011). Critiques have also discussed the embeddedness of French secularism in republicanism which emphasizes uniformity as a means to achieve equality regardless of origins, religions, or beliefs (Brubaker, 1992).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights into the construction of cultural realities: Foreign newspaper discourses about the burkini ban in France

Sommier

2017

Ethnicities

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The burkini ban introduced by several French coastal cities in August 2016 caused a great stir in France and abroad. Discussions were mostly articulated around the topics of secularism, religion, and national identity and values. This study examines foreign perspectives on the burkini ban in France to gain insights into the construction of cultural realities. Informed by Cultural Studies and Critical intercultural communication, this study approaches the construction of cultural realities by investigating the articulation of similarities and differences. A thematic analysis of newspaper articles (N ¼ 167) from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland was conducted to identify the categories evoked to construct similarities and differences. Findings indicated subtle shifts between old and refined commonalities. Throughout the data, France was cast away and represented as ''the deviant other'' while Muslims and Islam were associated with representations of ''us.'' However, underlying tensions indicated ambivalence in the redefinition of symbolic differences and similarities. Specifically, the figure of the Western Muslim and the construction of the burkini as ''appropriate difference'' suggested the persistence of hierarchical relations between ''us'' and ''them.'' Cultural realities therefore appeared to be both liquid and solid. In addition, findings underlined the dialogic construction of cultural realities as differences and similarities were constructed at different levels (national and transnational) that became meaningful through their interactions.

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“…25Of course the entire debate in France is coloured by its commitment to laïcité , or secularism, a commitment that has nevertheless coexisted peacefully with considerable state support for Catholic religious institutions; see Adrian, 2009.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Can Multicultural Theory Tell Us about Integrating Muslims in Europe?

Lenard

2010

Political Studies Review

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Across Europe and elsewhere we are witnessing a series of decisions, including attempts (successful and otherwise) to ban the burka or the building of minarets on mosques, which seem to be made from a fear of ‘politicised Muslims’– Muslim residents and citizens in European countries – who are alleged to be irredeemably and unambiguously anti‐European and therefore anti‐democratic. They are, additionally, frequently portrayed as taking orders from fundamentalist regimes, or organisations, which operate from outside Europe and aim to destabilise European political life. The debates and conflicts portrayed in the Swiss media in the week before the vote on whether to ban the construction of minarets, for example, and in the days just afterwards, mirror those that have been occupying European countries for the past several years. As I shall suggest in this article, these debates are familiar to theorists of multiculturalism, and of liberal democracy more generally, and they press us to consider whether the challenges (apparently) posed by Muslim integration are distinct from the challenges that have occupied the attention of multicultural theorists in the past. Underpinning the analysis in this article is my view that the principles that underpin multicultural theorising, principles that were developed in response to previous waves of immigration, are able to guide us in developing fair terms of integration for Muslim citizens.

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France, the Veil and Religious Freedom

Cited by 11 publications

References 4 publications

Education, secularism, and illiberalism: Marginalisation of Muslims by the French state

Education, secularism, and illiberalism: Marginalisation of Muslims by the French state

Insights into the construction of cultural realities: Foreign newspaper discourses about the burkini ban in France

What Can Multicultural Theory Tell Us about Integrating Muslims in Europe?

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