Articles on Laïcité
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Despite a finding by the Québec Superior Court that Bill 21 has a cruel and dehumanizing impact on Muslim women, the law has survived. Now, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear challenges to it.
When satire targets marginalized groups, it risks reinforcing harmful stereotypes rather than challenging them.
While the red Phryge is endearing, the symbol’s fraught global history challenges the narrative of freedom and unity that the Olympics, and its French hosts in particular, want to tell.
Laïcité, which historically upheld individual freedom, denies minority rights today, as seen in the ban on French athletes wearing hijabs at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Some of the measures the French government has taken to fight radicalization can do the opposite, three social scientists argue.
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”.
Catholicism, ‘Frenchness’ and secularism are often conflated in French culture, a scholar writes, while non-Christian traditions are viewed with suspicion.
Saying the state upholds universal principles does not act as a safeguard against institutional discrimination and racism.
Liberal schools of thought largely inform how Muslims are viewed across Europe, research finds.
Why are Emmanuel Macron’s reform plans so controversial and why are people protesting about freedom after another spate of violent attacks?
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.
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.
Neither French nor American, Senegalese secularism stands midway between these two models
Respecting religious freedom not only protects the rights of individuals, it safeguards the integrity and accountability of democratic governments.
With tensions already high, telling Muslim women not to dress a certain way at the beach will only make things worse.














