Author: Samragni Dasgupta

“In the end it’s not because of Islam that we stay at home, but because of French society.”

Joan Wallach Scott is an American historian who specializes in Gender and  Intellectual History in France at Princeton University. This testimony reproduced in her book, The Politics of the Veil, sums up the current plight of Muslim women in France. The book aims to discuss the background, justification and the french discourse on the “veil”. It discusses the issue and subsequent ban of the veil in primary schools in regard to the French form of secularism, which is considered to be one of the hallmarks of the French Republic. French secularity, or the policy Laïcité, as it is better known in France, has many interpretations and forms of application. Continue reading “BookView | The Politics of the Veil by Joan Wallach Scott”