Ebook: The politics of the veil

Joan W. Scott's book on the headscarf controversies (*affaires des foulards*) in France over the past two decades is one of the best works of social theory that I have read in recent years. In clear, accessible prose, Scott lays out an incisive analysis of the motivations for and consequences of the headscarf ban in French public schools. Furthermore, although the controversies constitute a relatively recent phenomenon, Scott (a historian by training) does an admirable job of contextualizing the debate by presenting the colonial, religious, and philosophical sources of French national identity. The result is a nuanced and compelling study of contemporary French society and the supposed "threat" posed to it by Muslim immigrants.

The great virtue of this book is its analysis of the paradoxes of religion and secularism that have been revealed by the French government's prohibition of the headscarf (strategically referred to as the more oppressive-sounding "veil" by supporters) in school. In Scott's careful attention to media coverage of the controversies and the political and philosophical discourses of pro-ban figures, she reveals a surprising degree of chauvinism in the political ideals of French universalism; of intolerance in France's lauded defense of "abstract individualism" as the basis for citizenship; and of patriarchal authority in certain French feminists' insistence that any wearing of the "veil" is inherently oppressive and degrading of females. In short, where pro-ban figures (from conservative politicians to feminist intellectuals) rail against the intolerance, "backwardness," and authoritarian nature of global Islam (as symbolized by the "veil"), Scott notes a fearful trend toward "absolutist secularism" and an uncompromisingly hostile stance toward cultural difference (where *intranational* [within France] social, class, and ethnic/racial differences are elided by "clash of civilizations" discourse -- Western secularism pit against global Islam).

On the other hand, opponents of the ban as well as some heardscarf-wearing girls (through quoted testimony) reveal the extent to which the "veil" actually serves a strategic, even empowering, purpose in everyday life: a way for young women to negotiate their gender, spiritual, and political identities in woefully underfunded schools in the poorest sections of major French cities. In other words, in already stigmatizing environments, young women wear headscarves as a means of expressing fidelity to cultural traditions, signaling attachment to their family, and/or asserting individual dignity through spiritual development. In all cases, the headscarf is a symbol of survival and social well-being -- the very things the state claims to protect under its obtuse, heavy-handed ban.

*The Politics of the Veil* does more than outline the French government's hypocrisy in dealing with social and religious minorities. It is a well-written, well-argued case for the need to recognize the interdependence of religion and secularism in Western democracies. I recommend this book highly to scholars and general readers of modern Europe, contemporary politics, and social and cultural theory.