Thesis prepared for a joint degree (cotutelle) between Université de Montréal and École Normale Supérieure de Cachan, Université Paris-Saclay. / Depuis la loi interdisant le port de signes religieux "ostensibles" dans les écoles publiques (2004), un changement progressif s'est opéré en France. De l'interdiction du port du foulard intégral dans l'espace public (2010) aux mesures touchant les parents d'élèves (2012) et les employées des crèches privées (2014), les femmes portant le foulard islamique ont graduellement été exclues de différents espaces publics. Ces mesures sont souvent justifiées au nom de la nécessité de défendre la République ou de revitaliser les valeurs qui la sous-tendent. À travers quels processus politiques y compris discursifs l'exclusion des femmes voilées est-elle devenue une composante de la promotion des valeurs républicaines ? Ma recherche se penche sur cette question à l'aide d'une approche conceptuelle et discursive de l'étude des idéologies politiques. Plus précisément, en ancrant mon analyse dans les discours publics entourant quatre "affaires du voile", ma recherche met en lumière la transformation graduelle du républicanisme français – une construction complexe à travers laquelle les concepts politiques acquièrent un sens. Cette analyse de l'idéologie républicaine française dans le contexte des "affaires du voile" révèle et continuité et changement. Continuité, car les anciens principes de liberté, égalité et fraternité y demeurent centraux ; et changement, car de nouveaux idéaux ont modifié la signification de son noyau conceptuel. Dans le chapitre 4, "Le foulard de l'étudiante : Le succès du séxularisme", j'analyse le début de ce processus. En examinant la controverse publique au sujet du port du foulard islamique dans les écoles publiques, je démontre comment les acteurs politiques français ont graduellement construit la question de l'égalité des sexes – qui, historique¬ment, a été plutôt marginale dans la pensée républicaine française – comme une valeur contiguë au principe de la laïcité, ouvrant ainsi la porte à d'autres redéfinitions. Dans le chapitre 5, "La burqa dans l'espace public : L'ordre social républicain", mon analyse démontre comment les hommes politiques et les juristes, en visant à interdire le port du voile intégral, ont revivifié et transformé la notion de l'ordre public à travers la construction d'une nouvelle définition de l'ordre social. Dès lors, le républicanisme français s'oriente vers la protection de "valeurs communes". D'un point de vue théorique, je soutiens que ce glissement implique une transformation naissante au sein même du noyau républicain : la priorisation de fraternité aux dépens de liberté et d'égalité. Le chapitre 6, "Baby-Loup et l'emploi privé : de discrimination à la cohésion sociale", et le chapitre 7, "Mères 'voilées' et sorties scolaires : une extension de la norme sociale républicaine", analysent la consolidation et les conséquences du noyau républicain transformé : la priorisation de l'intérêt public au détriment des droits et libertés individuels. Ces chapitres démontrent comment les acteurs politiques et juridiques ont appliqué ce républicanisme remanié aux nouveaux espaces et aux nouveaux groupes. Ce faisant, ils ont contribué à l'émergence et à l'enracinement d'un nouveau discours de cohésion sociale, imprégné par l'exigence de neutralité religieuse individuelle et conditionné par l'exclusion des femmes "voilées" d'une variété d'espaces publics. / Since the law prohibiting the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools (2004), a gradual development has taken place in France. From the law banning full-face covering in public space (2010) to measures concerning the parents of students (2012) and the employees of private nurseries (2014), women wearing the Islamic headscarf have step-by-step been excluded from different spheres of public life. These measures have been publicly justified by the necessity of defending the French Republic or of reinvigorating its underlying principles. Through which political including discursive processes did the public promotion of republican values come to signify the exclusion of headscarf-wearing Muslim women from public spaces? My research tackles this question by employing a conceptual and discursive approach to the study of political ideology. More specifically, by focusing on the public discourses surrounding four so-called "veil affairs," my research sheds light on the gradual transformation of French republicanism – a complex construct through which political concepts gain meaning. Examining contemporary French republicanism through the context of the "veil affairs" reveals both continuity and change. Continuity, because the age-old principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity still form its cornerstone; and change, because newer ideals have modified the meaning of its conceptual core. In Chapter 4, "The Student's Headscarf: The Success of Sexularism," I analyze the beginning of this process. By examining the public controversy surrounding the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in public schools, I show how French political elites gradually constructed the question of gender equality – which, historically, has been rather marginal in French republican thought – as a value adjacent to the principle of laïcité, thereby opening the door for further redefinitions. In Chapter 5, "The Burqa in Public Space: The Republican Social Order," my empirical analysis demonstrates that, in aiming to ban face-covering veils, French political and legal actors ended up reviving and transforming the notion of public order through the construction of a new definition of republican social order. Thus, French republicanism took an important turn towards the protection of "shared values." From a theoretical point of view, I argue that this shift implies a nascent transformation within the very core of the republican-ideological construct: the prioritization of fraternity over liberty and equality. Chapter 6, "Baby-Loup and Private Employment: From Discrimination to Social Cohesion," and Chapter 7, "'Veiled' Mothers and School Outings: Extending the Republican Social Norm," examine the consolidation and consequences of the transformed republican-ideological core: the prioritizing of the "common good" (intérêt public) over individual rights and freedoms. These chapters shed light on how political and legal actors applied the transformed republican ethos to new spheres and new groups of people. In doing so, they contributed to the emergence and entrenchment of a new discourse on social cohesion – one permeated by the requirement of individual religious neutrality and dependent on the exclusion of headscarf-wearing Muslim women from a variety of public spaces.

Cette thèse porte sur la construction médiatique de « l’affaire de la burqa » (2009-2010) et la problématisation scientifique de « l’affaire du foulard » (1989-2004) en France. Ces débats s’inscrivent dans une actualité marquée par l’émergence de projets d’interdiction du voile islamique dans les crèches (2008-2015), sorties scolaires (2007-2013), entreprises et universités (2013-2015). Des faits divers aux lois, les affaires du foulard et de la burqa mettent au jour la conversion des débats médiatiques en affaires nationales, nous informant alors sur la construction d’un agenda juridique autour des signes de l’islam. Au regard de ce contexte, ce travail interroge la manière dont la mise en visibilité médiatique accrue du voile participe à la reconfiguration des espaces publics. Dans une approche sémiotique en communication, appuyée sur les méthodes d’analyse de l’image et des discours, ce travail conjugue l’étude de « l’affaire de la burqa » dans la presse et « l’affaire du foulard » dans les revues en SHS. L’articulation des arènes médiatique et scientifique se fait dans une perspective de recherche « archéologique » consistant à lire l’actualité (« affaire de la burqa ») à la lumière d’un savoir scientifique sédimenté durant vingt ans de publication en SHS sur « l’affaire du foulard ». Cette étude démontre que « l’affaire du foulard » a inauguré une problématique au sujet de la visibilité islamique, tandis que « l’affaire de la burqa » a posé une question inédite sur la spatialité des signes de l’islam. Ce travail a mis au jour deux paradigmes d’analyse (visibilité-spatialité) devenus aujourd’hui centraux pour la recherche en SHS portant sur le voile ou le fait religieux islamique sous le prisme des médias. / This thesis focuses on the media construction of the "burqa affair" (2009-2010) and the scientific problematization of the "headscarf affair" (1989-2004) in France. These public debates are part of media and scientific current events marked by the emergence of many projects banning the Islamic veil in nurseries (2008-2015), school trips (2007-2013), enterprises and universities (2013-2015). From news stories to laws, headscarf and burqa affairs reveals the conversion of media controversies into national issues, informing us about building a legal agenda around the signs of Islam. Given this context, this work examines how the increased media setting of Islamic veils visibility takes part in the redefinition of public spaces. In a semiotics approach, based on methods of image and discourse analysis, this work combines the study of the "burqa affair" through the press and the "headscarf affair" through the Humanities and Social Sciences journals. The articulation of mediatic and scientific arenas is approached from an "archaeological" perspective consisting of reading recent news events ("burqa affair") in the light of a scientific-knowledge sedimented during twenty years of HSS publications on "headscarf affair". This study demonstrates that the "headscarf affair" has opened a problematic view in relation to the Islamic visibility, while the "burqa affair" has set a new question on the spatiality of the signs of Islam. This work has enable to update two analytical paradigms – visibility and spatiality – that became central to contemporary research in HSS regarding the issue of the veil or Islam through the prism of the media.

The issue of a Muslim woman‟s dress code has been debated for centuries. This is of great importance as it is widely used as a criterion to measure the extent of a woman‟s piety or devotion to Allah. A study of the religious texts on the issue is essential. Therefore, Qur‟anic text, Prophetic Traditions and Qur‟anic exegesis of both classical and modern scholars would have been used in determining the correct dress code for Muslim women. While all research indicates that women dress conservatively, in order not to attract the attention of the opposite sex. The extent to which a woman must be covered has not been agreed upon. Even if what has to be covered is established by scholars, the manner in which this is to be done and the type of colours and fabric to be used needs further clarification. The issue of the female dress code needs to be presented from a female perspective. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

The issue of a Muslim woman‟s dress code has been debated for centuries. This is of great importance as it is widely used as a criterion to measure the extent of a woman‟s piety or devotion to Allah. A study of the religious texts on the issue is essential. Therefore, Qur‟anic text, Prophetic Traditions and Qur‟anic exegesis of both classical and modern scholars would have been used in determining the correct dress code for Muslim women. While all research indicates that women dress conservatively, in order not to attract the attention of the opposite sex. The extent to which a woman must be covered has not been agreed upon. Even if what has to be covered is established by scholars, the manner in which this is to be done and the type of colours and fabric to be used needs further clarification. The issue of the female dress code needs to be presented from a female perspective. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)