research - Associated Student Government, Northwestern University

RESEARCHMuslim clothing bans based on two documents, giventhat their drafting is an act of framing. The Stasi CommissionReport reveals the concepts behind the 2003-2004 ban on religious clothing in schools. A transcriptof a National Assembly debate from July 6th, 2010reveals the concepts behind the 2010-2011 ban on theconcealment of the face in public. The analyses are presentedseparately for each source and the master framesand sub-frames are grouped accordingly. Since thesesources document framing, they do not by any meansFraming Analysis:2003-2004 Ban on Religious Symbols inSchools and the Stasi Commission ReportThe hijab (overall Muslim female modesty, most frequentlymanifested in a headscarf) or khimar (hair andneck cover, usually a headscarf) ban, part of an overallban on religious symbols in schools, was debated inFrance in 2003 and instituted in 2004. In early Decemberof 2003, a government-sponsored commission issuedthe Stasi Commission Report (thus named for thehead of the commission, Bernard Stasi) recommendinga federal law that would ban conspicuous religioussymbols in public schools. The law is an amendment tothe French Code of Education that expands principlesfound in existing French law, especially the constitutionalrequirement of laïcité: the separation of state andreligious activities.Master Frame: French SecularismSecularism is “the nature of the relationship betweenreligion and state.” 5 Secularism comes from theword “secular,” which is the opposite of sacred. Secularmeans “of or pertaining to worldly things or to thingsthat are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred;temporal; not pertaining to or connected with religion.”6 Secularism, by extension, refers to “secular spiritor tendency, especially a system of political or socialphilosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith andworship” or “the view that public education and othermatters of civil policy should be conducted withoutthe introduction of a religious element.” 6 It is the lattermeaning that is encapsulated in the French concept oflaïcité (spelled “laicite” throughout the paper for ease).Laicite is the concept of a secular society, in which religiousinvolvement is absent from government affairsand government involvement is absent from religiousaffairs. 8 “Secularism implies the independence of thepolitical and spiritual or religious options. They haveno control over the state and the latter did not presentthem.” 9 Most French-English dictionaries translate laiciteas secularism (a type of political system) althoughit can also be thought of as secularity in general or as“laicism” and “laicity.” 10To these French politicians…Secularism is the cornerstone of the republican pact, basedVOLUME 7, 2011-2012on three inseparable values: freedom of conscience, legalequality of spiritual options and religious neutrality of politicalpower. Freedom of conscience enables each citizen tochoose their spiritual or religious life. Equality before thelaw prohibits any discrimination or coercion and the statedoes not favor either option. Finally the political powerrecognizes its limitations by refraining from interferencein the spiritual or religious. Secularism thus reflects aconception of the common good. So that every citizen canrecognize themselves in the Republic, it subtracts the politicalpower to the dominant influence of any spiritual orreligious option in order to live together. 11The French type of secularism is a different breed.It is a “Secularism that is both uncompromising in applyingthe principles of the Republic and friendly to allreligious and philosophical beliefs.” 12 In recognizing thatall religions are equal, none are allowed in the publicsphere so as not to impose on others. 13 “Secularism isthe framework in which the French are fully guaranteedfreedom of worship and expression of all spiritual options.”14 Again, in privatizing religion, no French citizenfeels uncomfortable in the public sphere. The modernfoundation of France rests on secularism as the conceptof a soceity which practices religion privately, under the“freedom of conscience” concept.The French are passionat about secularism: “Franceis not the only Western country to insist on the separationof church and state - but it does so more militantlythan any other… Secularism is the closest thing theFrench have to a state religion.” 15 The comparison ofsecularism to a religion is fitting. As the Stasi Commissionwrites, “France is the only country to [have] explicitlyenshrined secularism in its constitution.” 16 Theword “enshrine” (in French “consacré,” which meansconsercrate, dedicate, devote) has an undeniable relgiousconnotation. Secularism is held in especially highregard in France and the French people have immensepride in their execution of this principle. The openingof the Stasi Commission Report reads “The FrenchRepublic was built around secularism. All democraticstates respect freedom of conscience and the principleof non-discrimination; they are experiencing variousforms of distinction between political and religious orspiritual. But France has elevated the status of secularism,a fundamental value.” 17 The French politicians whowrote the Stasi Commission Report were well aware thatsecularism is closely associated with a “set of images,values, dreams and desires that underlie the Republic.” 18These Frenchmen see “secularism as key to nationalidentity, cohesion of society, equality between men andwomen, education, etc.” 19Sub-Frame: Public OrderThe law of 1905 that separates church and statereads, “The Republic guarantees freedom of conscience.It guarantees freedom of worship, subject only to restrictionsset forth below in the interest of public order.”20 In the interest of public order, the French govern-NORTHWESTERN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL53