Muslim Citizens! after the January 2015 Paris Attacks: France's Republicanism and its Muslim Population

Abstract

<jats:p>Responses to the January 2015 killings in Paris were often based on the assumption that there is an essential incompatibility between France’s republican model, of which <jats:italic>laicité</jats:italic> is an essential element, and the aspirations of its Muslim population. The killings were therefore taken as evidence that France needed to adopt multicultural policies. Against the binary opposition between French republicanism and Islam, I argue that France’s postcolonial citizens, including Muslims, are committed to France’s republican principles, which they contributed to defining by appropriating the ideals of the French revolution. I claim that French postcolonial citizens are more concerned with equality than identity, that the structural causes of terrorism are to be found in the lack of equality, and that issues surrounding Muslims in France can be addressed within the framework of <jats:italic>laicité</jats:italic>.</jats:p>