Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Baku International Multiculturalism Centre Azerbaijani Multiculturalism Textbook for Higher Education

7.6. Multiculturalism in France

The laws prohibiting religious symbols in public schools in France and the demands made by Muslim girls for an exemption within the framework of freedom of religion or belief constitute an example of polyethnic rights. However, these examples are not typical of French society and polyethnic rights are not allowed. Given the importance attached to the principle of secularism by French society, there are no exceptions to the laws in this context.

France is a secular state according to the Constitution. For this reason, society and political power consider the display of religious beliefs and symbols in the public sphere to be inappropriate. Since 2004, Muslim girls have been prevented from wearing headscarves in public schools, and other prohibitions have been imposed on followers of the religion as well.

Although there is no official definition of the term ‘secular’ in French law, in the legal sense, the term refers to the absence of a dominant religion in the state, non-clericalism, the separation of religion and the state, legislative authorities that are not based on religion, and the principle of an impartial state approach to all religious confessions. At the same time, secularism in France is regarded as the liberation of the social sphere from religious expressions, and also as a guarantor that the social sphere is not exposed to religion. It is generally said that secularism in France allows religion only at the individual level.

Discussions about the recognition of ethno-confessional groups in France began in the 1980s. Along with political and economic problems in France, integration and immigration issues in Europe came to the fore in this period. The French system created the French melting pot (assimilation) model that envisaged the integration of migrants into the existing socio-political structure (naturalization), thus moving away from multiculturalism.

The French government tries to solve the problems encountered by the ethno-confessional groups, formed by migration, on the basis of integrating them completely into French culture. More precisely, it wants to turn people from ethnic communities into full French citizens. The French model is different from multiculturalism, where different social groups continue their coexistence. It should also be said that the republican ideology maintains its importance in France. According to this ideology, every French citizen is free and enjoys equal rights, irrespective of ethnic origin.

France clearly sees itself as a multicultural society. The main reason for this is the realization of the republican ideology and the nation-state political system. The French nation-state model is based on the idea of an equal (one type) French citizen.