Why France's banning of the abaya in schools is a symptom of an identitarian panic
France is withdrawing into itself, writes Mediapart’s co-editor Carine Fouteau in this op-ed article. The latest manifestation of its post-colonial obsessions is the ban now introduced on the wearing at school of the abaya, a loose-fitting, full-length robe worn by some Muslim women. It translates into a generalised suspicion towards Muslims, more precisely female Muslims, but also into the defeat of France’s principles of secularism and the right of pupils to control their own bodies.
AsAs the new school term began this week in France, there were so many issues worthy of public and political attention. There are children who, like their parents, go without enough to eat; there is a shortfall in the numbers of teachers because, despite assurances to the contrary, those who have left the profession have not been sufficiently replaced; there are parents who struggle to meet the cost of school stationary items, while overcrowded classes suffer under the heatwave.
