France
State racism consists in France of a historical phenomenon that has amplified since the 70’s, with the growing influence of neoliberal policies and the disappearance of the “left” from the political scene. The current electoral campaign is currently constructed on a xenophobic discourse that aims to reject all immigrants from France, in a context where the myth of the “great replacement” conveyed by the far right has been gaining more visibility in the public debate. The figure of the “Muslim immigrant” represents the main target of state racism, which has built its nationalist imaginary through the control and repression of the “Muslim woman”. Since 2004, successive laws banning the wearing of the headscarf in schools and public spaces (Loi 2004; Law of 2010-1192) have been carried out in the name of “protecting” French Republican values in front of a “Muslim threat”. These laws have hindered the social and economic inclusion of Muslim women in French society, impeding their access to public services and marginalizing them.
The “Anti-Separatism Bill” (2021) reinforces political repression and racial discrimination, as it:
- bans the wearing of burkinis in public swimming pools;
- plans to suspend family allowance in case of a child absenteeism (which particularly aims immigrant families and “mothers” considered irresponsible in front of their children’s education);
- bans the wearing of the jilbab and other religious signs in sports competition;
- bans foreign flags during marriages
- bans prayer in university
- reinforces state power to control civic associations. It plans the dissolution of any organization that “prohibits a person or group of persons” from participating in a meeting “on the basis of their color, origin or belonging or non-belonging to an ethnicity, nation, race or religion”. This especially targets immigrant and racialized groups of people.
University has become a key area of such political discrimination. Many professors and groups of students exploring ideas of “intersectionality”, “decolonialism” and “islamophobia” in order to critically address state racism became subjects of public launching and received personal intimations.
Women political figures have played a key role in promoting such xenophobic measures carried out in the name of “women rights” and secular democracy. Marlène Schiappa, Minister of State for Gender Equality and the Fight against Discrimination in France, was the main carrier of the Anti-Separatism Law. Sara El Hairy, Minister of State for Youth and Engagement, publicly stated that she felt more threatened by “intersectional” discourses than by Zemmour’s anti-immigrants and anti-Muslim speeches. On the other hand, women have been excluded of the General Assembly for wearing the veil and forbade to take part in the public debate.
Such political and ideological context of racism and hatred is alarming.
For this reason, no set of “good practices” coming from the government can be recommended.
Rather, we recommend to support groups of immigrant women who, by taking part in civic, democratic and intellectual resistance to oppose state racism, contribute to create new narratives on “French” politics
References
UN experts challenge the French banning of the niqab
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23750&LangID=E
Human Rights Watch warns the government for dissolving the Collectif Contre l’Islamophobie
https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/12/04/france-dissolving-anti-discrimination-group-threatens-rights
Human Rights Watch warns against systemic police discrimination
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/27/france-end-systemic-police-discrimination
A report on Assa Traoré, the new French icon who fights against racial injustice
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/world/europe/race-france-adama-traore.html
Academic articles:
Hauser, Jonathan. 2021. “Education, securalism and illiberalism: Marginalisation of Muslims by the French State.” French Cultural Studies, 32 (2): 149-162
Kassir Alexandra & Jeffrey G. Reitz. 2016. “Protesting headscarf ban: a path to becoming more French? A case study of ‘Mamans toutes égales’ and ‘Sorties scolaires avec nous.’” Ethnic and Racial Studies 39 (15): 2683-2700
Killian, Caitlin. 2003. “The Other Side of the Veil: North African Women in France Respond to the Headscarf Affair.” Gender and Society 17 (4): 567-590
Scott, Joan W. 2005. “Symptomatic Politics – The Banning of Islamic Head Scarves in French Public Schools.” French Politics, Culture & Society 23 (3): 106–127.
Ivekovic, Rada. 2004. “The Veil in France: Secularism, Nation, Women.” Economic and Political Weekly, 39 (11): 117-1119