At the height of the controversy, everyone seemed to have an opinion about the law. More than sixty public personalities--including actresses Emmanuelle Béart and Isabelle Adjani, philosopher Élisabeth Badinter, former government ministers Corinne Lepage and Yvette Roudy, and activist Fadela Amara--appealed to Chirac in the pages of Elle magazine to pass a law banning the foulard. Few voices were heard in defense of both laïcité and Muslim girls' civil right to attend school. Among these were comic book artist Marjane Satrapi, who wrote in the Guardian that to forbid schoolgirls to wear the veil was as repressive as forcing them to wear it, and philosopher Pierre Tévanian, who argued that laïcité applied to institutions, not people. Read more....
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emphasis added to levity Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
Scott's broad and exhaustive research makes for a bracing account of the debate.
Scott on Conversations with History, discussing her book, cited in Lalami's article, The Politics of the Veil:
Cat: "light of laïcité" -- alliteration
Picture Copé with a snout, small eyes and a corkscrew tail. Now picture Marianne exhorting Copé as she colors his lips bright red, with the caption: "Go forth to les Bosquets and bring them the good news of laïcité."
The march of civilizations is a series of defenses that man has put up against the dread of pure existence.
