The New Challenges to the École laïque: Integrating Islam

Abstract

On 11 November 2013, a series of five reports reflecting on the current state of integration in France was posted on Prime Minister Jean-Marie Ayrault’s website. The reports focused on how to incorporate multiculturalism into the French Republican model through initiatives such as incorporating diversity into French history, teaching foreign languages in school, and emphasizing the contributions of immigrants to French society. Among the justifications for a revised approach to diversity, the findings of a commission sponsored by Ayrault commented on the discriminatory effects of laïcité, writing: ‘It is important to reflect on the conditions of development of an inclusive and liberal conception of laïcité, of a communal laïcité, sensitive to both the contexts and consequences of its implementation’ (Boubeker and Noël, 2013). By advocating the development of a liberal and inclusive conception of laïcité, the report assumed that the current state of laïcité was illiberal, exclusive, and therefore a hindrance to integration.