Negotiating Republican Islam
The Conseil français du culte musulman and the Debates on Headscarves and Full Veils
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeSearch for other papers by Johanna Konttori in
Current site
Google Scholar
The article analyzes the discursive construction of republican Islam by French parliamentarians and the representatives of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (cfcm or Conseil français du culte musulman) during the debates on headscarves and full veils. It is argued that even though both parties agreed generally on the need to promote moderate Islam that is loyal to French laws, values and principles, there were also several issues that divided these parties. The article employs the framework of analytics of government and highlights the element of negotiation and the active role of the different parties involved in the regulation of Islam.
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Bowen John R., “Does French Islam Have Borders? Dilemmas of Domestication in a Global Religious Field,” American Anthropologist 106/1 (2004), 43–55.
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———, Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves. Islam, the State, and Public Space (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2007).
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6
John R. Bowen, “Recognising Islam in France after 9/11,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 35/3 (2009), 439–452, here 441.
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7
For instance, Alain Boyer, “La representation du culte musulman en France,” French Politics, Culture & Society 23/1 (2005), 8–22 and Jonathan Laurence, “From the Élysée Salon to the Table of the Republic: State-Islam Relations and the Integration of Muslims in France,” French Politics, Culture & Society 23/1 (2005), 37–64.
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8
Veit Bader, “The Governance of Islam in Europe: The Perils of Modelling,” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 33/6 (2007), 871–886, here 873; Nikolas Rose, Powers of Freedom. Reframing Political Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 15; Jani Kaisto & Miikka Pyykkönen, “Johdanto. Hallinnan analytiikan suuntaviivoja,” Jani Kaisto & Miikka Pyykkönen (eds.), Hallintavalta: sosiaalisen, politiikan ja talouden kysymyksiä (Helsinki: Gaudeamus, 2010), 7–24, here 7.
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15
Jennifer A. Selby, “Islam in France Reconfigured: Republican Islam in the 2010 Gerin Report,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 31/3 (2011), 383–398.
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46
For instance Debré, Rapport, 14; Gerin, Rapport, 395. The reasonings of the commissions (most notably the Stasi Commission) that worked during the headscarf and full veil debates, as well as the laws of 2004 and 2010 and their (unwanted) consequences have been criticized in research literature. To give just a few examples, see Gunn, “Religious Freedom” and Leane, “Rights”.
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49
See for instance Olivier Roy, La laïcité face à l’islam (Paris: Stock, 2005), 160–165 and Remy Leveau & Shireen T. Hunter, “Islam in France,” Shireen T. Hunter (ed.), Islam, Europe’s Second Religion. The New Social, Cultural, and Political Landscape, published in cooperation with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, d.c. (Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2002), 3–28, here 12–13. It is interesting to note the difference of tone between the 2003 hearings of the Rector of the Paris Mosque Dalil Boubakeur and the General Secretary of uoif Fouad Alaoui. While the former was praised for courageously defending laïcité and his quest for moderate Islam, the loyalty of the latter was more or less questioned. This is, however, in accord with the fact that Paris Mosque had close ties with the state even before the establishment of the cfcm, while uoif and its links to the Muslim Brotherhood have caused concerns.
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See also John R. Bowen, “Does French Islam Have Borders? Dilemmas of Domestication in a Global Religious Field,” American Anthropologist 106/1 (2004), 43–55.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
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Negotiating Republican Islam
The Conseil français du culte musulman and the Debates on Headscarves and Full Veils
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeSearch for other papers by Johanna Konttori in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The article analyzes the discursive construction of republican Islam by French parliamentarians and the representatives of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (cfcm or Conseil français du culte musulman) during the debates on headscarves and full veils. It is argued that even though both parties agreed generally on the need to promote moderate Islam that is loyal to French laws, values and principles, there were also several issues that divided these parties. The article employs the framework of analytics of government and highlights the element of negotiation and the active role of the different parties involved in the regulation of Islam.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 345 | 94 | 7 |
| Full Text Views | 196 | 7 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 56 | 14 | 3 |
