From a Community of Believers to an Islam of the Heart: "Conspicuous" Symbols, Muslim Practices, and the Privatization of Religion in France*

Killian, Caitlin

doi:10.1093/socrel/68.3.305

Cited by 31 publications

(32 citation statements)

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“…Assembly member Bérengère Poletti asserted, "even if only five or six women were concerned, it would be a matter of principle" (Assembly hearings, September 9, 2009). The burqa, like the headscarf, which was banned in French public schools in 2004, is treated as a violation of laïcité (French secularism) and of equal rights for women as well as an indication of sectarianism-and thus, a violation of citizenship (Joppke 2009;Amiraux 2008;Killian 2007;Salvatore 2007;Scott 2007;Bowen 2006;Stemmann 2006;Strieff 2005;Césari 2005). The state and larger French public, in its fixation on Muslim women's practice, has come to equate these women with contradictions to republican liberalism (Joppke 2009) and has politicized their otherwise insular religious practice.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Debating the Burqa in France: the Antipolitics of Islamic Revival

Parvez

2011

Qual Sociol

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In 2009 a French national commission was created to issue recommendations against "the burqa" and raise the possibility of a ban on the practice in certain public settings. This paper explores the different normative stakes of politicizing the burqa and the form of Islamic Revival with which it is associated. Recent scholarship has sought to overturn orientalist depictions of Islamic movements but has insisted that bodily ethical practices, such as Muslim women's veiling, constitute forms of politics. Based on ethnographic research in a women's mosque community in a poor suburb of Lyon, France, I argue that these women are not engaged in a form of politics but rather, antipolitics, a movement originally conceptualized in the 1970s and 80s as a rejection of politics and a valorization of private life. Three components define their antipolitics: a reconfiguration of the private sphere against an intrusive state, a retreat into a moral community, and emphasis on spiritual conditions and achievement of serenity. In interrogating different meanings of politics and antipolitics, this paper suggests a rethinking of the relationship between "political Islam" and piety movements.Keywords Islam . France . Gender . Politics Few expressions of faith today cause as much fear and loathing in plural democracies as the "burqa."1 The pity and disdain many feel for these women is a nearly automatic reaction Qual Sociol (2011) 34:287-312 DOI 10.1007/s11133-011-9192-21 The term "burqa" is not employed by those in the Muslim community who are familiar with women's veiling practices. The word is currently used in France to refer to both the full body covering including the face, except the eyes, as well as a mesh-fabric covering over the eyes. These are the specific practices being debated in the French Assembly and that among adherents, are known as a "niqab" or "sitar" (which covers the eyes). The sitar is an exceptionally rare practice in France. Most of the women among whom I conducted fieldwork wore "the djelbab," which refers to a long hair and body covering that leaves the face exposed. Some of them also wore the niqab. In this paper, I switch back and forth between the terms djelbab and burqa. Most of the discourses and phenomena I describe refer to these groups of women more generally, regardless of which ones wear only a djelbab and which choose to also wear a niqab. There was little distinction made in the Assembly hearings between these practices.

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“…The state of regret (for a sin) is said to be accepted by God only when sincere. Thus, there are specific practices, prayers, 13 Killian (2007) discusses this theme as it arose in her interviews with French North African immigrant women. Her subjects were first-generation Muslim immigrants and represented a wide range of Islamic practice.…”

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Debating the Burqa in France: the Antipolitics of Islamic Revival

Parvez

2011

Qual Sociol

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“…Yet, where parents tend to see improvements and opportunities, children see discrimination and rejection. While older immigrants are grateful for French literacy programs, their children realize that even advanced university degrees do not always guarantee employment (Killian, 2007), let alone equal opportunity in the job market, or access to official positions and group rights.…”

Section: Methodological Standpointmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liberté, Egalité, Islamité: Coping strategies of female immigrants from the Maghreb in France

Kalev

Marzel

2012

Women's Studies International Forum

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“…However, the topic is still subject to scrutiny. Some policymakers and school administrators call for an exclusion of religion from school curricula (see for example Lester 2007 andKillian 2007), while for religious followers, thoughts of interreligious education can stimulate fears of conversion or of pupils losing their own faith(s). Pallavicini looks at a third way.…”

Section: Interfaith Education: An Islamic Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Interreligious and intercultural education for dialogue, peace and social cohesion

Smith

2016

Int Rev Educ

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From a Community of Believers to an Islam of the Heart: "Conspicuous" Symbols, Muslim Practices, and the Privatization of Religion in France*

Cited by 31 publications

References 11 publications

Debating the Burqa in France: the Antipolitics of Islamic Revival

Debating the Burqa in France: the Antipolitics of Islamic Revival

Liberté, Egalité, Islamité: Coping strategies of female immigrants from the Maghreb in France

Interreligious and intercultural education for dialogue, peace and social cohesion

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