Islam in the Public Space of Secular France

Abstract

Religion constitutes an important part of human life, which influences a process of creating moral and social order. Changes in religiosity cause transitions in these systems. Contemporary European societies are marked by reality desacralization, displacement of sacrum to private space and dynamic increase of laicization. Against this background, France is a country where secularity is considered as one of the most meaningful republican values, an important element of national identity. The aim of the article is to verify the hypothesis that there is a need to find a place for Islam in a secular public space, considering that Islam cannot be modernized, rationalized or integrated with the secular space of France. The analysis carried out in the article was based on three research methods: historical method, institutional and legal method and content analysis method. The article was divided into five parts: the genesis and evolution of secularism in France, the essence of secularism in France, the dispute over the Muslim headscarf – the beginning of discussions about the place of Islam in the secular space and a place of Muslim culture. The secular model of the Republic faces an Islamic tradition, more and more visible in the French public space. An affair connected with headscarves, wearing religious symbols, halal food, Muslim places of worship and many other controversial issues divide France into a part which supports implementation of Islam into the public space and the radical one. Necessity of redefining French laicism has become one of the most important challenges in the Fifth Republic.