<Special Feature “Socio-economic Impacts of Islam on Capitalism, Civil Society, and Modernity”>In Search of Living Citizenship and the Islamic Habitus: The Muslim Private School as an Alternative Space for the Formation of ‘French-Muslims’ in France

Abstract

In France, the prominence of Islam in public spaces, notably in schools, has been called into question, as evidenced by a series of headscarf affairs that criticized the wearing of the veil. This debate concluded on March 15, 2004, when the French government imposed a ban on the Islamic veil in public schools. Today, however, we witness the resurgence of the Islamic habitus through the private schooling sector: ‘école privée musulmane’ (EPM) or the private Muslim school. In the French educational landscape, where public schools are of paramount importance, how can we interpret the development of EPMs? This article explores the school and religious life of the actors who compose these schools through an ethnographic school conducted in its premises. We highlight the experiences of the actors that led them to choose EPMs and retain them in these spaces. This study examines the choices made by these actors, particularly in the aftermath of the French headscarf ban and the public school crisis. Finally, the analysis focuses on the particularity of the EPM space as an alternative to public and private education of other denominations. The challenge of this new school space is to reconcile the two values to be transmitted through education -- citizenship and the Islamic habitus -- which will enable the establishment of a new ‘French-Muslim citizenship.’