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Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, this book examines how contemporary secularism in France is positioned as a guarantor of women's rights. Selby argues that the complex "fetishization" of headscarves in public, governmental, and feminist French discourse positions publicly-visible Muslim women in ways that obscure their engagement with laicité (French secularism).

Questioning French Secularism: Gender Politics and Islam in a Parisian Suburb

PART I: SETTING THE SCENE: PLACE AND METHOD Gender Politics and Religion in Contemporary France Fieldwork Context: Working and Living in Petit Nanterre Methodological Considerations: On Writing about Muslim Women PART II: 'HARDLY PARADISE': FROM SHANTYTOWN TO HOUSING PROJECT Migration to the Banlieues of Paris Religious Geography Gender Politics and Sexual Segregation Divisions Community-Based Organizations 2005 Suburban Riots PART III: THE SHIFTING BOUNDARIES OF LAICITE Secularism: General Remarks Secularism: The French Case Commissioned Secularism in Contemporary France Secularism: The Pork Affair in Petit Nanterre PART IV: FEMINISM, FEMININITY, AND LAICITE Femmes Solidaires ('Women in Solidarity') French Femininity: Stereotypes Gossip PART V: MARRIAGE-PARTNER PREFERENCE AND MIGRATION TO PETIT NANTERRE Journeys to Petit Nanterre Implications for 'Disfavored' Women Second-Generation Women Respond Implications PART VI: ON BEING A VISIBLY RELIGIOUS WOMAN IN FRANCE Continued French Colonialism? Feminist Critiques and Practicing Religious Women General Conclusion