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Vol. 13, Nº. 1 (May-October 2022)

LIBERTÉ, EGALITÉ ET LAÏCITÉ: THE USE OF HIJAB IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS A

THREAT TO THE FRENCH REPUBLICAN ONTOLOGY (1989-2004)

BRUNO PEDROSA

bruno.cspedrosa@gmail.com

Master’s student in International Security and Defense at the Brazilian War College (ESG, Brazil)

specializing in BRICS’ common identity formation. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International

Relations from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF) focusing on Eurasian

geopolitical dynamics. He writes for an independent think tank Quo Vademus. He is an external

collaborator to the Nucleus of Studies on BRICS (NEBRICS) and a fellow researcher in the Group

of Studies on BRICS (GEBRICS).

Abstract

This paper analyzes the perception construction of the hijab use in public schools as an

ontological threat to France. Considering laïcité as one of the pillars for French society and

identity and the school as the basis of the construction of this narrative, the use of the hijab

could be considered as a threat to religious neutrality in the public spheres, injuring the basic

principles of the Republic. This situation led to the approval of a law banning the use of all

kind of apparent religious garments in primary school across France, despite religious freedom

being a fundamental right in the country. As a methodology, it conducts a discourse analysis

of the statements and opinions of French leaders and institutions of the executive and judicial

branches in relation to the use of clothing in relation to the principle of laïcité and freedom of

worship in France between 1989 and 2004.

Keywords

Ontological Security; Laïcité; Islam; Religious Freedom; France.

How to cite this article

Pedrosa, Bruno (2022). Liberté, Egalité et Laïcité: the use of hijab in public schools as a threat

to the french republican ontology (1989-2004). In Janus.net, e-journal of international

relations. Vol13, Nº. 1, May-October 2022. Consulted [online] on the date of the last visit,

https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.13.1.4

Article received on September 23, 2021 and accepted for publication on March 16, 2022

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Vol. 13, Nº. 1 (May-October 2022), pp. 51-62

Liberté, egalité et laïcité: the use of hijab in public schools as a threat to the French republican ontology

(1989-2004)

Bruno Pedrosa

LIBERTÉ, EGALITÉ ET LAÏCITÉ:

THE USE OF HIJAB IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS A THREAT TO THE

FRENCH REPUBLICAN ONTOLOGY (1989-2004)

BRUNO PEDROSA

Introduction

Terrorist attacks have been treated as a security issue in France since the 1980s.

However, since the 9/11 event, such threats have been correlated with Islamic

extremism, both by the media and by the French government (France, 2006). These

concerns about the French State’s security and its citizens regarding the Muslim

community in the country permeated social layers and brought to debates issues on

identity and private life.

It is known these speeches addressed by the state and the media have increased the

stigma towards Muslims in France. Stéphane Bauzon (2017: 190) states that "the

terrorist attacks carried out by Islamists on French territory in recent years have only

reinforced this mistrust towards the Muslim religion". Moreover, one can also say that

there was a development of a type of distrust not only regarding the religion, but towards

representations and symbols of it, being the use of the hijab as the greatest example of

this phenomenon.

However, despite being one of the countries from which ideals such as tolerance and

religious freedom spread to the rest of the world, the country's government approved in

2004 a law prohibiting the use of the hijab by Muslim girls in primary public schools. This

measure was approved by the justification of "reaffirming the republican symbol of

laïcité

promoting the equality and emancipation of Muslim women" (Bauzon, 2017:

186) In addition, the French educational system aims to increase the country's internal

cohesion by marginalizing "regional and religious allegiances" (Windle, 2004: 97) . Also,

according to Windle (2004: 97), concerning the French public school system, "a 'free,

secular, and compulsory' national educational system is one of the key guarantors of

Although the term can be translated directly into "secularity" or "secularism", I opted for the original use of

the symbolic and cultural charge that is brought, which does not occur when there is translation. This

justification for the non-option of translation applies to all other terms in foreign language in this work.

According to the French government itself, laïcité is a value that guarantees "freedom of conscience".

Therefore, it allows "the freedom to manifest their beliefs or convictions within the limits of respect for

public order." It is concluded that “laïcité implies the neutrality of the State and imposes the equality of

all before the law without distinction of religion or conviction" (France, [s.d.]).

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republican values [...]". Thus, wearing the hijab could "symbolize [...] a threat to the

very conditions of the existence of the Republic" (Windle, 2004: 97).

Despite Windle's (2004) statements, it can be seen that explanations about the use of

the state apparatus to deal with the Islamic issue at schools have been insufficient. This

is shown by the concentration of studies in state security having the State as the main

study object (Gregory, 2003) and negligence of the ontological issue of security seen

through French society’s lens. Other thinkers try to understand the effect of these

religious symbols using other interpretations. Whether by the media, by gender studies

or by social issues such as integration and immigration (Carle, 2004). However, these

works fail to fully explain the origins of the motivations of French policies to avoid the

use of the hijab in the country's public schools, although they are sometimes interpreted

as inconsistent with the French values of freedom and equality themselves.

According to Resende (2017: 90),when she talks about the effects of the 9/11 attacks

on American society, she say this event produced a trauma in the collective imaginary of

that nation provoking "questions of the dominant discourses about America and about

Americans". Then, in the face of this identity crisis, the thinker states that, in order to

overcome trauma and restore social order, "the articulation of a new dominant discourse

capable of recommence is the framework of intelligibility of reality broken in 2001"

(Resende, 2017: 90). Likewise, the use of the hijab by girls in French public schools has

generated a crisis in the dominant narratives about the identity of the country, role of

school and the founding principles of the present-day French Republic, such as freedom

and secularism.

Given the explanatory insufficiency offered by the dominant literature, this work aims to

offer a perspective of the problem through the ontological security lens. Based on the

security perspectives’ expansion, and the studies on identities as objects to be securitized

by the State (Mitzen, 2006; Steele, 2008; Subotić, 2016; Resende, 2017), this text

focuses on answering the following question: how can the use of hijab in primary schools

be considered as an existential threat to France? Through this approach, this article’s

main argument finds itself at the following statement: Muslim religious manifestations

can be constructed as supposed threats to French national security, even if this process

is against French Republic’s founding values.

With the objective of analyzing the impact of this garment on the French identity

imaginary, one can see that discourse analysis makes it possible to understand the

discursive practices and narratives that shape perceptions of reality (Hansen, 2013).

Another possibility offered by this method is that it "not only to explicate the content of

a state’s biographical narratives, but also to reveal how a discourse’s effects constitute

certain types of action" (Steele, 2008: 10–11). In addition, the analysis of speech acts

by authorities are both a source and a methodological practice for this work .

The choice of temporal scope is justified by the following situations: in 1989, an episode

occurred that became known, in French known as affaire des foulards islamiques

rekindled the public debate about the limits of secularism within French society, notedly

Translated as the "case of Islamic veils", this event occurred when three girls of school age and of Maghreb

origin were expelled from the school where they studied for insisting on the wearing of the hijab in the

classrooms.

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within schools. In 2004, one can consider as the apex of this discussion when there was

a prohibition, by law, of the use, not only of the hijab, but as of other apparent religious

garments in public schools. Thus, this work will be divided into four parts. The first takes

place in the understanding of ontological security as a theoretical approach to understand

the securitization of identity as a political practice. The second part is dedicated to

understanding the space of laïcité in the French imaginary as part of its identity. The

third part will have the objective of analyzing the phenomenon’s unfolding through the

approval of the ban on the use of hijab in French schools in 2004. The last part is intended

for the final conclusions on the issue.

Ontological security: what is it and why is it important?

Benedict Anderson (2006: 6) states that "communities are distinguished not by their

falsehood/authenticity, but by the style they are imagined." These imaginations are

based on symbols and narratives that offer "a sense of space and a sense of place"

(Subotić, 2016: 612) for individuals belonging to these same communities. It can be

said, then, that narratives "play a critical role in the construction of political behavior

[...]. We create and use narratives to interpret and understand the political realities in

our surroundings" (Patterson and Monroe, 1998: 321).

Thus, Subotic (2016: 612) says that these narratives serve as autobiographies. Used by

both individuals and larger groups, these autobiographies function as an ontological

reference of those who reproduce it. By creating a story about "where did ‘we’ come

from, how we did come to be who we are, what bring us together in a group, what

purpose and aspirations does our group have," communities can create an ontological

anchor that gives them "a sense of stability and allows us to move forward." According

to Steele (2007: 904),"state agents give meaning to their actions to others through this

narrative [...]". Thus, Subotic (2016: 612) concludes by stating that one cannot

understand the behaviors of political actors without "understand what is the normative

narrative underpinning of the policy choices actors make [...]". Therefore, they are

narratives that enable the ordering of a sense of "who I am", which enables the

construction of rational calculations as a "precondition for knowing what to do" (Somers,

1994: 618).

However, when this narrative and the identity that comes from it suffers a crisis, the

state tends to take certain measures to resume the previous balance. According to Steele

(2008b: 2) in this scenario, "states seek social actions to serve their self-identity needs,

even when these actions compromise their physical existences". Thus, the author even

states that ontological safety is more important than physical security. This is due to

state's willingness to keep "self-concepts consistent, and the Self of states is constituted

and maintained through narrative [...]" (Steele, 2008: 3).

However, what is ontological security? According to Mitzen (2006: 342), she refers it as

"the need to experience oneself as a whole, continuous person in time – as being rather

than constantly changing – in order to realize a sense of agency”. Thus, feeling

ontologically secure means being safe about one's own identities.

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Also, according to Mitzen (2006: 345), ontological security becomes important because,

through this perspective, identity is the basis of the actors' agency. According to her,

when the individual is in an ontological insecurity situation, it "cannot relate ends

systematically relate to means in the present, much less plan ahead". For these moments

of "profound ontological crises" (Subotić, 2016: 614), is called trauma. Trauma, in turn,

occurs when "external events cannot be neatly placed into the ontological security

narrative because they represent a challenge to the state internal or external identity"

(Subotić, 2016: 614).

In the face of these ontological crises, the narratives present in the imaginaries of the

communities are activated in order to give a strategic basis for political actions (Subotić,

2016). According to Subotić, the use of these discourses by political leaders serves to

create cognitive bridges between political action and the restoration of autobiography so

that its continuity is maintained. "Narratives provide intersubjective meaning to policy

change. They make political change comprehensible and acceptable" (Subotić, 2016:

616).

Laïcité as France’s Ontological Pillar

As part of the narrative of what it is to be French, laïcité is one of the most important

aspects of the Republic’s ontology. It is part of the national myths and symbols that "are

receptacles that allow people to project onto them their idealized images of their values,

cultures, histories, peoples and lands. In France, a particular understanding of laïcité is

linked to a sense of identity" (Gunn, 2004: 429). However, to better understand the

importance given to this concept in the French imaginary, it is worth making a brief

historical recap of its construction.

According to Gunn (2004), there were two historical periods in France that were essential

for the development of this concept as part of the country's autobiographical narrative:

the Revolution of 1789 and the Period of the Third Republic (TR) which lasted from 1870

to 1940. The most important point the author wants to discuss is that the construction

of laïcité "did not embody the high principles of tolerance, neutrality, and equality; rather

it emerged from periods of conflict and hostility, most of which targeted the Roman

Catholic Church" (Gunn, 2004: 433).

In the French Revolution period, a main point of the revolutionaries’ criticism was the

influence that the Catholic Church had on the state’s public affairs. The objectives of the

most radical (the Jacobins) were a total separation between the State and the Church

and the dechristianization of French society. "[...] the French revolutionary spirit of

citizenship is understood as freedom of religion" (Carle, 2004: 66). Despite later, it was

turning against Protestants and Jews, the Catholic Church was the main target hit by the

revolution having its assets confiscated by the state and its leaders were impeached and

hunted. Gunn (2004: 438) says there was a "demand that citizens choose between their

religions and the state". Then, according to Carle (2004: 66), "one of the most valued

legacies of the Revolution is the secular state and institutional structure of the public,

secular education implemented by Jules Ferry under the Third Republic [...]".

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During the Third Republic, after having gone through several political changes, the

Revolution’s extremism had already disappeared. Nonetheless, according to Gunn

(2004), it was during this period that the term laïcité has begun to be more common in

political discourses. One of the great milestones of TR in this sense was the total legal

division between the Church and the state in 1905, which had as its principle, present

since the times of the Revolution, that there be "the separation of civil society and

religious society, the State not exercising any religious power, and the Churches no

political power" (Capitant, 1930: 305). Then, "in France, laïcité identifies with the

Republic" (Bauzon, 2017: 177).

At the same period of TR, the French government took its first steps to establish a public

primary education system and "training teachers as defenders of science to

counterbalance the village priest" (Windle, 2004: 98). "The new structure of secular

power replaced the religious community with a political community, excluded religion

from public political life, and gave rise to a still present anti-religious and anticlerical

discourse which makes laïcité a particular experience". This thought was in the perception

of the French State that it must "guarantee freedom of conscience for all and the equality

of all convictions" (Nugier et al., 2016: 16) by relegating religion to the private

environment.

Thus, the State was responsible for the religious neutrality of citizens within all public

spheres (Nugier et al., 2016: 16). In addition, French secularism is seen as a guarantor

of neutrality on the part of the State with all religions and a cohesion that allows national

unity (Berg and Lundahl, 2016). As a result, the wearing of religious clothing in French

schools is regarded as a proselytizing religious act and as "an unacceptable expression

of a religious background that infringes upon the neutrality and the laicist character of

the public school" (Shadid and van Koningsveld, 2005: 48). All this is demonstrated in

a speech by former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius in 2003, in which he says: "The

school is not just one within many places; is where we shape our little citizens. And this

tripod: laïcité, Republic, school, is the tripod on which we support ourselves" (Fabius,

2003).

It can also be affirmed that the French State model of seeing society and its relationships

with it reinforce the neutrality of religious representation. Based on the Jacobean

centralizing and unitary model, the system today insists on an individualistic relationship

between the State and people (Doyle, 2011: 487). According to Doyle (2011: 478) this

is explained by a legacy of the revolutionary period in which, in order to "combat the

hierarchy of hereditary states", the ideal of the reconstruction of French nationality would

be based on the emancipation of individuals from "affiliation groups". In other words,

"French republicanism encouraged a strong serum of democratic public power but

relegated cultural affiliations and identities, including religion, to the private sphere"

(Doyle, 2011: 478).

The Case of Hijabs in Primary Schools

In 1989, three Muslim girls were temporarily suspended from their schools for their

insistence on wearing the hijab in the classroom. This has generated heated debates

within French society about whether or not the right to wear the veil, "revived existing

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controversies, exploited French fears of Islamic fundamentalism and again dramatized

continuing concerns about the future of Muslim immigrant communities in France"

(Feldblum 1993: 61). The controversy reached the highest court of justice of France (the

Conseil d'État) from which came the opinion that the use of the hijab or expression of

the religion of those girls do not affect the principles of laïcité (Gunn, 2004). However,

the same court said that students can be passive to punishment if they try to make any

kind of religious propaganda or disrupt school activities

Because it was not clearly solved, the issue of the use of the hijab by Muslim students in

primary schools was still a fuel of debate in the country. In addition, the increase in

immigration from former muslim majority French colonies to the country, from the 1980s,

began to produce a certain social tension in relation to the wearing of clothing that

distinguish women from this religion. The use of the hijab and other types of adornments

worn by Muslims in France in public places causes the status of laïcité and its limits to be

questioned. This even causes a suspicion among the French whether Muslims prefer their

Islamic identity than French identity (Gunn, 2004). As many of these women are

immigrants or their daughters, they are seen as foreigners, a non-national symbol that

has not been fully integrated into the standard and genuinely French values, according

to the prevailing identity narratives. "When the French see the veil, they are not proud

that their country is tolerant and welcoming of other peoples and religions, but feel that

something foreign and non-French has infiltrated their society (Gunn, 2004: 418-419).

Since this episode in 1989, several similar cases have been disputed in France, between

those who wanted a purer laïcité and those who did not see conflicts between the use of

religious devices and the legal concept. Also, according to Gunn (2004), however, in most

cases, the Conseil d'État was in favor of wearing the veil, but always warning the issue

of proselytizing and disturbance of order. However, in 2004, legislation was passed

almost unanimously that effectively banned the use of hijba in public schools (Windle,

2004).

This movement to strengthen laïcité (some authors even call it nouvelle laïcité)

began

in 2003, when former Prime Minister Raffarin said during a television interview that the

veil should be punished absolutely in public schools (Ockrent and Leclerc, 2003). Soon

after this episode, the Minister of the Interior (who would end up being the president of

the country) Nicholas Sarkozy said before the Union of Islamic Organizations of France

that no woman should wear the veil when taking photos for official documents in the

Republic (Gunn, 2004). However, although the laïcité issue was built in relation to the

Catholic Church and expanded to other religions, "the threat posed by Catholicism has

never been portrayed exactly as the current threat of Islam is by the mainstream media.

The old mistrust of religious power is now combined with the fear of the formation of

separatist communities" (Windle, 2004: 98).

Prime Minister Raffarin's concern about the alleged threat that the wearing of the hijab

posed to the Republic was based on an issue called communautarisme. Based on "a life

founded on belonging to the Muslim religion", the communautarisme "is perceived as

the refusal to shape the traditional French lifestyle and even as the will to reproduce in

the national territory true enclaves of its original countries" (Bauzon, 2017: 189). This

To delve into the issue see Nugier et al (2016).

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is reinforced by the minister's own words by saying that there should be a "debate that

engages in school and its future" since "we are all convinced, that the school is the

primary space of the Republic" (Raffarin, 2003). In addition the minister (2003) goes on

to say that it must be ensured that it is in the school that the "supreme value that is the

Republic and that there are no ostentatious symbols of communautarisme that come to

unbalance our school balance". Raffarin concludes by saying that the school should

remain as "the space par excellence of the Republic, soon of the laïcité". Therefore, it is

clear the perception of the French authorities that French identity was at risk of existence

for alleged infringements of laïcité by religious groups.

In view of the increased intensity of the debate across the country, President Jacques

Chirac proposed the creation of a committee to assess the situation that should give him

an opinion by the end of 2003. This committee aimed to generate "reflection on the

application of the principle of laïcité in the Republic" (Stasi, 2003: 2). Named Stasi

report (last name of the committee leader), the document proposed several proposals

for social inclusion and improving the lives of marginalized communities, such as Muslims.

However, the point that received the most attention from the public stated the following:

“Adopt the following provision for schools: in respect of freedom of conscience

and the proper character of establishments under contract, clothes and

manifesting signs of religious or political belonging are prohibited in schools,

colleges and high schools” (Stasi, 2003: 68).

In December of the same year, President Chirac gave his opinion on the report and

addressed the issue of the use of religious ornaments in public schools in the country.

On national television, the president thanked the Stasi commission's efforts and made

remarks that would explain the approval of the ban on the use of religious parts by the

French parliament in 2004. As he begins his speech, Chirac says that

“the debate on the principle of laïcité resounds in the depths of our

consciences. It reminds us of our national cohesion, our ability to live

together, our ability to gather about the essentials. The laïcité is inscribed in

our hearts. It is at the heart of our identity” (Élysée, 2003: 1).

By reaffirming that France is known "as the homeland of human rights", he continues to

praise the principle. Moreover, it tells how laïcité is responsible for the reality in which

France lives. "It is in fidelity to the principle of laïcité, the cornerstone of the Republic,

the axis of our common values of respect, tolerance, dialogue, that I call all French and

all French to come together". Continuing, "these values underpin the uniqueness of our

nation. [...]. It is these values that make France”. He also makes direct references to the

communautarisme stating that it "cannot be a choice of France. He would be contrary to

our history, to our traditions, to our culture" (Élysée, 2003: 1-3).

Recalling the principle that "school is a republican sanctuary that we must defend"

(Élysée, 2003: 5), Chirac offers his final opinion on the issue. These are his words:

“With that in mind, I estimate that the carrying of clothes or symbols that

ostensibly manifest the religious must be outlawed in schools, colleges and

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public schools. The discreet signs, for example, a cross, a star of David, or a

hand of Fatima, will naturally remain possible. Unlike ostentatious symbols,

that is, those that the size leads to perceive and recognize immediately their

religious belonging, they cannot be admitted. They – the Islamic veil, whether

it is its name, the kippa or a cross manifestly oversized – will have no room

in public schools. The public school will remain secular” (Élysée, 2003: 5).

In March 2004, President Jacques Chirac signed a law passed by the National Assembly

and the Senate that banned all types of religious clothing in schools, including the hijab.

In the face of all this, it can be seen that the issue of laïcité and, consequently, the French

identity saw in Islam and its clothing its greatest threat within the period analyzed.

Although the Stasi Commission and President Chirac's statements were about religions

in general, throughout the text it was possible to see that both the beginning and

development of the debate on the limits of laïcité and communautarisme and religious

clothing in public spaces, from 1989 onwards, Islam had been the main starting point.

However, although theoretically it is a contradiction within the logic of French values of

tolerance and religious freedom and is a question of the opinions of the Conseil d'État,

the 2004 decision is supported when looked at by the bias of ontological security.

Resuming the thoughts of Steele (2008) and Subotić (2016), states create narratives

about themselves so that their actions of both the past and the present and those of the

future are justified in terms of identity. "[…] actors must create meanings for their actions

to be logically consistent with their identities" (Steele, 2008: 11). Thus, it is understood

why the policies and the resurgence of debates about laïcité within French society after

the affair des foulards islamiques. Thus, anxieties about the future of their identity and

the perception of the threats generated by Islam "justify a policy by reasoning what such

a policy means or would mean about their state’s respective sense of self-identity"

(Steele, 2008: 12).

Putting into perspective the speeches of high-level officials of the executive power such

as Jacques Chirac, Laurent Fabius and Jean-Pierre Raffarin it is seen that the religious

expressions of French Muslims were being considered as threats to the continuity of the

French hegemonic autobiography. Thus, fears and anxieties of French society regarding

its identity, and consequently its existence, enabled the government to make these

decisions.

Conclusions

As demonstrated by the new approaches of Security Studies, societal and identity issues

have been seen as important interpretative keys of reality. In view of all that has been

written, the conclusions of this text show that the manifestations and political

mobilizations in France in relation to the use of the hijab in public schools, between 1989

and 2004, were reactions to the defense of the principle of laïcité, as one of the

ontological bases of the country.

However, it is noteworthy that other issues that are necessary for understanding this

issue are beyond the scope of this work. Reflections on whether these reactions came

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from French society in general or only from those who seek to maintain the racial and

religious status quo is a space that this work opens up for future approaches. Moreover,

issues such as communitaurisme and perceptions about this in relation to national

integrity were points that were raised throughout the text but could not be developed

comprehensively. Another point to be addressed is whether the threat seen in Islam is a

prejudice only to Muslims or to any other non-Catholic religion, since France has a history

of intolerance with Protestants (St. Bartholomew's Day) and Jews (Dreyfuss Affair). In

any case, the aim of this work is not to exhaust the discussion, but only to bring a

neglected perspective when it comes to identity in French society.

Within this same approach, speech acts from actors of high political positions (notedly

the executive body) were analyzed, who were received by a French society who were

fearsome and anxious about their identity due to the large influx of Muslim immigrants

from former French colonies to mobilize narratives. In doing so, cognitive connections

were created with the French autobiography that made acceptable the decisions to

prohibit the wearing of ostentatious religious clothing within public schools as a way to

protect the ontological bases of national identity. However, in the face of immigration

movements and typical religious clothing, Islam has become the main target of these

policies.

Therefore, the debate regarding the use of the hijab in public schools may be within the

debate of ontological security. As demonstrated throughout this work, the use of the

state apparatus was used as a tool to protect French identity by protecting the principle

of laïcité, before Islam, within public schools.

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