Abstract

Carol Ferrara’s essay Laïcité: Secularism in the French Context outlines how the implementation of laïcité affects daily life in France. Ferrara details the historical foundation of laïcité, while also providing a theoretical contextualization by comparing it to different secular counterparts. The essay provides a thorough history of the 1789 French Revolution, Church-state relations, colonialism, and education, and how the intersection of these elements with the evolution of French secularism led to modern-day laïcité. Ferrara concludes that debates over laïcité have more to do with protecting French national identity (francité) than with protecting secularism. There is clear confusion as to what laïcité actually means and how it should be implemented in France, and there will be an inevitable increase in restricting religious freedom in order to preserve this perceived quintessential component of French identity. Ferrara argues that there is still room for ample debate, negotiation, and reinterpretation as the meaning of laïcité and its relationship with francité continues to evolve.