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

Auteur
Jennifer A. Selby is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Memorial University, Canada. She studies Islam in the West, with a focus on secularism and gender politics in contemporary France and Canada.

Contenu
PART I: SETTING THE SCENE: PLACE AND METHOD Gender Politics and Religion in Contemporary France Fieldwork Context: Working and Living in Petit Nanterre Methodological Considerations: On Writing about Muslim Women PART II: 'HARDLY PARADISE': FROM SHANTYTOWN TO HOUSING PROJECT Migration to the Banlieues of Paris Religious Geography Gender Politics and Sexual Segregation Divisions Community-Based Organizations 2005 Suburban Riots PART III: THE SHIFTING BOUNDARIES OF LAICITE Secularism: General Remarks Secularism: The French Case Commissioned Secularism in Contemporary France Secularism: The Pork Affair in Petit Nanterre PART IV: FEMINISM, FEMININITY, AND LAICITE Femmes Solidaires ('Women in Solidarity') French Femininity: Stereotypes Gossip PART V: MARRIAGE-PARTNER PREFERENCE AND MIGRATION TO PETIT NANTERRE Journeys to Petit Nanterre Implications for 'Disfavored' Women Second-Generation Women Respond Implications PART VI: ON BEING A VISIBLY RELIGIOUS WOMAN IN FRANCE Continued French Colonialism? Feminist Critiques and Practicing Religious Women General Conclusion