Questioning French secularism : gender politics and Islam in a Parisian suburb / Jennifer A. Selby.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Selby, Jennifer A.

Series:

Contemporary anthropology of religion

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secularism--France.

Secularism.

Muslim women.

France.

Muslim women--France.

Physical Description:

xiii, 241 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, [2012]

Summary:

"Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, this book examines how contemporary secularism in France is positioned as a guarantor of Muslim women's rights. Selby analyzes public discourses on secularism in France to consider how Islam becomes subsumed under the fetishized headscarf, how women's bodies come to represent collective identities, and how the activism and engagement of suburban Muslim women with secular politics is ignored"--Provided by publisher.

"Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Parisian suburb, this book examines how contemporary secularism in France is positioned as a guarantor of Muslim women1s rights. Jennifer Selby argues that the complex fetishization of headscarves in public, governmental and feminist French discourses positions publicly-visible religious women in ways that obscure their engagement with laïcité (French secularism )."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Setting the Scene: Place and Method

"Hardly Paradise": From Shantytown to Housing Projects

The Shifting Boundaries of Laïcité

Feminism, Femininity, and Laïcite

Marriage Partner Preference

On being a Visibly Religious Muslim Woman : Piety and Polity in France

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780230121010

0230121012

OCLC:

738335483