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Articles on Laïcité

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Students attend a class at the Averroès school in Lille, France, in September 2023. Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images

France’s biggest Muslim school went from accolades to defunding – showing a key paradox in how the country treats Islam

Some of the measures the French government has taken to fight radicalization can do the opposite, three social scientists argue.
L'archevêque de Canterbury Justin Welby place la couronne de Saint Édouard sur la tête du roi Charles III de Grande-Bretagne lors de la cérémonie de couronnement à l'intérieur de l'abbaye de Westminster, dans le centre de Londres, le 6 mai 2023. Victoria Jones/AFP

Are French and English secularist traditions that far apart?

On several counts, England is now on its way to becoming a secularist society. Nevertheless, there remain cultural differences that prevent it from embracing the French principle of “laïcité”.
Residents watch French air force jets fly over a Paris suburb during the Bastille Day military parade on July 14, 2023. AP Photo/Youcef Bounab

French schools’ ban on abayas and headscarves is supposedly about secularism − but it sends a powerful message about who ‘belongs’ in French culture

Catholicism, ‘Frenchness’ and secularism are often conflated in French culture, a scholar writes, while non-Christian traditions are viewed with suspicion.
An homage to Samuel Paty, a teacher murdered after showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, Oct. 18, 2020. Adnan Farzat/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Beheading in France could bolster president’s claim that Islam is in ‘crisis’ – but so is French secularism

Macron wants to ‘build an Islam in France that can be compatible with the Enlightenment.’ But that goal assumes France is compatible with Islam, says a Muslim scholar of religion and politics.
Hommage to Samuel Paty: “Thank you Mr. Paty to have taught us history and freedom of expression.” Bertrand Guay/AFP

Teachers in France, on the front line of defending the values of the Republic

The horrific death of Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, highlights the importance of the work of educators who are, more than ever, on the front lines of the fight for freedom of expression.
Honouring religious freedom and behaving faithfully in public not only protect the rights of individuals but also safeguard the integrity of democratic governments. Peter Hershey/Unsplash

A cautionary tale: The unintended consequences of Québec’s Bill 21

Respecting religious freedom not only protects the rights of individuals, it safeguards the integrity and accountability of democratic governments.

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