As France experiences an influx of Muslim immigrants from former North African colonies and the Middle East, the country is struggling to deal with issues of multiculturalism and the role of religion in public life. In 2004, the French government banned female Muslim students from wearing headscarves in public schools. It claimed that any display of “conspicuous religious symbols” in schools contravenes the French value of laïcité, a strict interpretation of secularism in the public sphere. In 2011, the government passed a second law that bans full facial veils (i.e. niqabs, burkas) in public spaces. Many Muslims and non-Muslims have protested against the laws, arguing that they single out Islam unfairly and contribute to a narrow vision of what it means to be “French.”
In this case study, we aim to examine how the clash between Islam and “French values” is a form of globalization. We will look at the challenges of immigration and multiculturalism, the fight to preserve former identities or to produce new ones, and the intersection of cultural tolerance and women’s rights.
Required Reading:
- Bin Laden and Other Thoroughly Modern Muslims (Lechner & Boli, #52)
- Globalised Islam: The Search for a New Ummah (Lechner & Boli, #52)
- Compassion and Repression: The Moral Economy of Immigration Policies in France (Inda & Rosaldo, #9)
- Young Muslim Women in France: Cultural and Psychological Adjustments (Jstor)
- Religion in France (open short “essays” at bottom)
- Islamic hip-hop vs islamophobia (excerpt) . . . Francophones, feel free to listen to relevant French rap while reading: “Je suis l’arabe“; “Ca vient de la rue” (Eng. subs); “La fin de leur monde“
- France Enforces Ban on Full Face Veils in Public (New York Times)
- Women Defying Full-Face Veil Ban (BBC)
- Integrating Minorities: The War of the Headscarves (The Economist)
- Understanding Urban Riots in France (Brookings)
- Jihad vs. McWorld (Lechner & Boli, #4) Review from first class if you have time
- The Clash of Civilizations (Lechner & Boli, #5) Review from first class if you have time
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