Lessons Of Democracy: Islamophobia and the French National Identity

By Jenn McNiff

This past week, French president Emmanuel Macron announced that the French government is going to proceed with an investigation of collegiate academic research. The French government believes certain social science theories, specifically what they have coined as “Islamo-leftist tendencies,” threaten to “corrupt French society” (Onishi 2021). The term “Islamo-leftism” itself, or “Islamo-gauchisme” in French, was coined back in 2002 by right-wing historian Pierre-Andre Taguieff, who used its union of leftism and reactionary Islam to justify anti-globalization (Houeix 2017). Since then, the term has not only gained a stigma, but also maintained popularity among far-right French politicians to “accuse left-leaning intellectuals of justifying Islamism and even terrorism” (Onishi 2021). Islam and Islamism are not one and the same. Islam is the religion itself, whereas Islamism is defined as “Islamic militancy and fundamentalism” and is typically used to describe those who act in hatred and excuse their actions “by incorrectly citing the Quran” (Toutate 2020). France persists with the aversion to discuss the racism France exhibits as they simultaneously enact policy with blatant Islamophobic intent.

Fig. 1. The woman’s sign reads “Yes to critique of religion, no to stigmatization of individuals.” “Thousands Protest Islamophobia in France.” 2019. Voice of America. https://www.voanews.com/europe/thousands-protest-islamophobia-france (February 18, 2021).

France has always been very protective of its national identity –even going as far as having a committee dedicated to preserving the purity of the French language. This has allowed concepts such as multiculturalism to be interpreted as a threat to the French identity. This “culture war” is depicted by Macron as between the French identity and social science theories, which he refers to as “American imports,” when in reality the rise in these discussions “has its roots in France’s universities,” not just American ones. The increasingly diverse French social science scholars have come to use social sciences, especially studies of race, gender, and post-colonialism, to dive deeper into the nuance of race in France (Onishi 2021). These conversations are not limited to collegiate scholars, though. Young French activists have become more and more vocal analyzing racism in France and its colonial past in Africa and the Middle East as well as uplifting the Black Lives Matter movement which resonated with similar problems in France (News Wires 2021). Despite its clear relevance to France independent of the US, the latter movement combating police brutality is that of the nature Macron undermines as an “American import.” Rather than listening to the conversation looking to be had, he seeks to delegitimize it since it did not originate in France.

The specifics of Macron’s plan, including criteria his investigators will look for to determine the presence of “Islamo-leftism,” is still yet to be released to the public, if it will be at all. This is far from France’s first Islamophobic government action. Back in 2011, a ban was enacted, barring the wearing of full-faced Islamic veils in public at the penalty of a fine (BBC). In 2017, an “Anti-Terrorism Bill” was passed that expanded the power of the authorities “to search homes, restrict movement, and close places of worship” (News Wires). Hopefully, with the consistent rise in activism and protest from the people of France, the French government will look to retract their discriminatory, Islamophobic legislation as well as understand that scholarly critique of a past or present cultural climate is not a threat to the country itself, but rather an examination of what must be improved for the future.

References:

BBC News. 2019. “Macron Warning on Stigmatizing Muslims amid France Veil Row.” BBC

News.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50079997#:~:text=In%202011%2C%20France

%20became%20the,head%20and%20hair%2C%20remained%20legal. (February 19,

2021).

Houeix, Romain. 2017. “Qu’est Ce Que Cet ‘Islamo-Gauchisme’ Dont Le Camp Valls Accuse

Hamon?” France24. https://www.france24.com/fr/20170125-islamo-gauchisme-signification-manuel-valls-

accuse-benoit-hamon-primaire (February 18, 2021).

News Wires. 2021. “French academics blast minister’s warning on ‘Islamo-leftism’.” France24.

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210217-french-academics-blast-minister-s-warnin

g-on-islamo-leftism (February 18, 2021).