French identity, Muslim identity: universalism, laïcité, and the Islamic challenge

Public Deposited
Analytics

Downloadable Content

Download PDF
Request Version for Screen Reader
Last Modified
  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Webster, Jennifer
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Political Science
Abstract
  • Europe is currently embroiled in a debate over the challenges Muslim immigration poses to national identity and cultural cohesion. As nations seek the best way to accommodate the values of the mainstream while respecting the rights and beliefs of Muslim minorities, they must make decisions about what tolerance really means, and the extent to which it requires secularism. The uniquely French value of laïcité, created from universalist ideals as a French solution to what was originally a French problem, is not incompatible with strong religious identity, but it is incompatible with the public expression of faith—an expression that many Muslims believe Islam requires. This essay will explore the reasons why the concept of French identity as universal and secular challenges France's Muslim minority (and vice versa) and why the application of laïcité within a universalist framework is still the best way to foster the creation of a truly French Islam.
Date of publication
DOI
Resource type
Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Searing, Donald
Language
Access right
  • Open access
Date uploaded
  • October 19, 2010

Relations

Parents:

This work has no parents.

Items

Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Visibility Actions
file details French identity, Muslim identity : universalism, laïcité, and the Islamic challenge 2019-04-12 Public Download