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Islam and Republicanism in France Since 1989

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Islam and Republicanism in France Since 1989 MAHOMET OU LA RÉPUBLIQUE VERSUS MAHOMET ET LA RÉPUBLIQUE: ISLAM AND REPUBLICANISM IN FRANCE SINCE 1989 By KATHERINE EMILY PURBRICK-THOMPSON A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS BY RESEARCH Department of Modern Languages College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham November 2018 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis examines two opposing intellectual discourses furthered by the intellectual and political elite on the subject of the integration of Islam into the French narrative and identity. The hypothesis which underpins this dissertation is that, in France, it is the physical practice of Islam which is perceived to represent a threat to the nation. I have named the discourse which demands that Muslims demonstrate the predominance of their loyalty to the Republic over their devotion to their religion through the renouncement of orthopraxy Mahomet ou la République. Its development, I argue, is linked to the renewed enthusiasm for Republicanism which emerged in the 1980s. By contrast, the proponents of the counter position, which I have termed Mahomet et la République, argue that the full acceptance and integration of orthopractic Muslims is possible and desirable. They do not see a threat to Republican values in the Islam of the majority of French Muslims. The development of these discourses will be discussed considering my own typology of the theorists implicated. I will argue that the Mahomet ou la République discourse is ultimately based on a biased interpretation of Islam, yet it regularly eclipses the Mahomet et la République discourse. Contents Introduction: Towards a Synthesis of Intellectual and Political Discourses on Islam in France .... 1 Chapter One: The Difficult History of Islam and the French State ............................................ 13 Religion: A Sensitive Subject in France ......................................................................................... 13 The Contemporary Conflict Begins .............................................................................................. 16 The Colonial Legacy in France ...................................................................................................... 17 The Development of Neo-Republicanism .................................................................................... 20 Neo-Republicanism and Islamic Orthopraxy ................................................................................ 22 Mahomet ou la République, Mahomet et la République ............................................................. 24 Tension Rises ................................................................................................................................ 25 A Multiplication of Limitations on Islamic Orthopraxy ................................................................ 28 The Importance of Orthopraxy .................................................................................................... 30 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter Two: The Nature of the Debate: A Typology of Theorists............................................ 34 Why a Typology? .......................................................................................................................... 34 The Polemicists I: The Nostalgics ................................................................................................. 37 The Polemicists II: The Orthopraxy Sceptics ................................................................................ 39 The Polemicists III: The Pro-Diversity Liberals.............................................................................. 41 The Feminists I: The Universalist Feminists ................................................................................. 42 The Feminists II: The Pragmatist Feminists .................................................................................. 43 The Islamic Theorists I: The Liberal European Reformists ........................................................... 45 The Islamic Theorists II: The Staunch Defenders of Piety ............................................................ 47 The Islamic Theorists III: The Literalist Conservatives .................................................................. 48 The Islamic Theorists IV: The Extremists ...................................................................................... 50 Mahomet ou la République and Mahomet et la République Groups........................................... 51 Chapter Three: Mahomet ou la République: The Development of an Exclusionary Discourse Based on a Biased Interpretation of Islam .............................................................................. 53 Dealing with France’s Colonial Past ............................................................................................. 55 The Threat of Terrorism by Extremists......................................................................................... 56 The Threat Perceived in Islamic Theorists .................................................................................... 58 The Threat Perceived in the Broader French Muslim Population ................................................ 62 The Misreading of Islamic Signs ................................................................................................... 67 The Promotion of an ‘Acceptable’ Islam ...................................................................................... 72 Political Capital to be Gained? ..................................................................................................... 76 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................................................... 79 Chapter Four: Mahomet et la République: The Alternative Discourse ...................................... 82 French Muslims’ Desire for Acceptance into the Republic .......................................................... 83 Colonialism Reconsidered ............................................................................................................ 89 An Alternative Reading of the Perceived Threat .......................................................................... 90 Muslim Women, Intersectionality, and the Feminism Question ................................................. 94 A Full Representation of Islam in France.................................................................................... 100 Concluding Remarks ................................................................................................................... 103 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 105 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. 111 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 112 Abbreviations CCIF – Collectif contre l’islamophobie en France CEPT – Collectif une école pour tou-te-s CFCM – Conseil français du culte Musulman CNCDH – Commission nationale consultative des droits de l'homme DILCRAH - Délegation interministérielle à la lutte contre le racisme, l’antisémitisme et la haine anti-LGBT ECFR – European Council for Fatwa and Research FLN – Front de libération nationale FN – Front nationale FNMF – Fédération nationale des musulmans de France FRA – European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights GIA – Group islamique armé GMP – Grande Mosquée de Paris IM – Institut Montaigne Ifop – Institut français d'opinion publique LICRA – Ligue internationale contre le racisme et l’antisémitisme LR – Les Républicains MEP – Member of the European Parliament MF – Musulmans de France NPNS – Ni putes ni soumises PS – Parti socialiste RPR - Rassemblement pour la République UMP – Union pour un mouvement populaire UOIF – Union des organisations islamiques de France Introduction Towards a Synthesis of Intellectual and Political Discourses on Islam in France France and Islam have a turbulent shared history. Over the course of the last 30 years, concern regarding the supposed ‘issue’ of Islam in France has intensified, with the matter becoming a regular subject of intellectual and political discussion. The media’s intense focus on the Iranian revolution, the Algerian civil war, and the propagation of terrorist cells in the Middle East such as al-Qaida constructed the image of an Islam opposed and threatening to Republican values. With this negative image of Islam abroad remaining in the background, concern soon turned to the Islam already present in France. There have been various intensifications of socio-political debate on the subject, including: the multiple episodes of the affaire du foulard
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