L'affaire du foulard: The Muslims’ Search for Identity in the French Republic

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2005

Disciplines

Political Science | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Advisor

Manju Parikh, Political Science

Abstract

In November 1989, l’affaire du foulard or the Headscarf Affair exploded into the public scene in France. Twenty-five years later in 2004, a law, which was generally supported by the French government and society, banned all “signs or attire which exhibit conspicuously a religious affiliation” from French public high schools. This directly affected Muslim girls for they were no longer able to wear headscarves at schools and subsequently led many in the Muslim community to question the French government’s behavior and actions that seemed to target them. L'affaire du foulard: The Muslims’ Search for Identity in the French Republic intends to explain the reasoning behind why the headscarf is so controversial in France and whether there was a need to ban all headscarves in French public schools. Furthermore, this thesis considers the Headscarf Affair from a broader context by highlighting their increasing presence and the difficulties that Muslims still experience in France.

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