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Ostentation and republican civility: Notes from the French face-veiling debates

“…This echoes a broadly communitarian concern 'that a society whose only public commitments are to neutrality, individuality or autonomy would be inherently fragile', 33 and that accordingly, 'republics should foster not the minimal virtues of civility and toleration, but the more demanding virtues of mutual empathy'. 34 It is probably no coincidence that the expansionary conception of laıcite´as embracing norms of social interaction gained traction at a time of disillusionment with the failed economic experiment of the Mitterrand era -as 'republican writings . .…”

“…35 Thus, the demands of republican solidarity are extended beyond the 'public' sphere, in its narrow constitutional sense, precisely because 'abstract citizenship must be complemented with allegiance to a republican public culture'. 36 And as Laborde notes, fraternalist republicans will aim to promote favoured dispositions beyond the political domain 37 ; thus, the duty of civility reflects a conception of the State as a 'public socialising agent' 38 across multiple public and quasi-public sites.…”

“…Similarly, during the earlier debates on the hijab preceding the 2004 ban on religious garb in public schools, fraternalist republicans had interpreted ostentatious religiosity 'as symptomatic of the advent of a ''rights based'' and ''me-first'' society'. 49 An anthropologist testifying to the Gerin commission described the burqa as a form of narcissistic, anti-social attention-seeking: it reflected an 'adolescent' conception of religion, 'a desire to set oneself apart from conventional practice'. 50 In more academic fora it has also been described as expressing a desire for 'originality' and authenticity, 51 and as 'a strategy of social distinction' 52 -one which, Amghar argues, is partly a mechanism for negotiating or compensating social exclusion.…”

“…However, Laborde notes that while fraternalist republicanism eschews any conception of organic, pre-political solidarities, in practice it will require a degree of 'cultural convergence'. 75 Arguably this stems from the fact that fraternal solidarities can only be expressed through culturally specific conventions and symbols. Where republican fraternity (or civility) is taken as precluding 'ostentatious' or flamboyant practices, these standards will be interpreted in culturally specific ways.…”

“…128 -essentially an esoteric republican jargon, or what Laborde more generously calls 'pervasive linguistic conventions'. 129 As Bowen puts it, 'everyone [in France] translates their particular concerns into republican phrases'. 130 Laborde argues that apparently 'untranslatable' concepts or idioms, often misunderstood or dismissed by critical and analytical philosophers alike, may in fact speak to more 'general categories' beyond a culturally specific discourse.…”