The politics of the veil /
Joan Wallach Scott.
- Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2007.
- xii, 208 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
- Public square (Princeton, N.J.)
"In 2004, the French government instituted a ban on the wearing of "conspicuous signs" of religious affiliation in public schools. Though the ban applies to everyone, it is aimed at Muslim girls wearing headscarves. Proponents of the law insist it upholds France's values of secular liberalism and regard the headscarf as symbolic of Islam's resistance to modernity. The Politics of the Veil is an explosive refutation of this view. Joan Wallach Scott, the renowned pioneer of gender studies, argues that the law is symptomatic of France's failure to accept its former colonial subjects as full citizens. She examines the long history of racism behind the law as well as the ideological barriers thrown up against Muslim assimilation. Finally, she shows how the insistence on homogeneity is no longer feasible fro France - or the West in general - and how it creates the very "clash of civilizations" said to be at the root of these tensions."-- Publisher's description.
9780691125435 (hbk.) 9780691147987 (pbk.)
Muslim women--Clothing--France Hijab (Islamic clothing)--Law and legislation--France Clothing and dress--Religious aspects--Islam Clothing and dress--Political aspects--France. Islam and secularism--France Islamophobia--France Muslims--Cultural assimilation--France