The Politics of Symbols: Reflections on the French Government’s Framing of the 2015 Terrorist Attacks

Faucher, Florence; Boussaguet, Laurie

doi:10.1093/pa/gsx013

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In the wake of those terror attacks, yet again debates were vigorously held over France’s colonial legacy, personal liberty, the need to preserve public order and security, civic culture and constitutional powers. Yet again, France's political and intellectual elites set out to re-found and strengthen the threatened Republic (Faucher and Boussaguet 2018 ; Breeden and Marcus 2016 ; UN News 2018 ).…”

Section: Part IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Indivisibilité, Sécurité, Laïcité: the French ban on the burqa and the niqab

Cohen‐Almagor

2021

Fr Polit

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In France, secularism is celebrated in the public sphere. The paper makes general arguments about France’s changing identity and specific arguments about the burqa and niqab ban. It explains how French history shaped the ideology of secularism and of public civil religion, and how colonial legacy, immigration, fear of terrorism and security needs have led France to adopt the trinity of indivisibilité, sécurité , laïcité while paying homage to the traditional trinity of liberté, égalité, fraternité. While the motto of the French Revolution is still symbolically and politically important, its practical significance as it has been translated to policy implementation has been eroded. The emergence of the new trinity at the expense of the old one is evident when analyzing the debates concerning cultural policies in France in the face of the Islamic garb, the burqa and the niqab, which are perceived as a challenge to France’s national secular raison d'être. The French Republic has attempted to keep public space secular. Is the burqa and niqab ban socially just? Does it reasonably balance the preservation of societal values and freedom of conscience? It is argued that the burqa and niqab ban is neither just nor reasonable in the eyes of the women and girls who wish to wear the Muslim garb, their families and community, and that paternalism that holds that the ban is for the women’s own good is a poor, coercive excuse. Claims for paternalistic coercion to protect adult women from their own culture when they do not ask for protection are not sufficiently reasonable to receive vindication.

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Section: Part IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Indivisibilité, Sécurité, Laïcité: the French ban on the burqa and the niqab

Cohen‐Almagor

2021

Fr Polit

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“…Emblematic and large-scale jihadist terror acts in France-such as the 2012, 2015, and the recent October 2020 violent attacks-pushed politicians to pledge new extensive counter-terrorist measures (not all of which eventually materialized), hardening the political discourse against "Islamist radicalization", and more recently, against "Islamist separatism". The reforms are not always intended to fight terrorism as much as to make symbolic statements and typically play into the hands of the right and extreme-right political factions (Faucher and Boussaguet 2018a).…”

Section: Hardening Of Policies and Discourse Against Jihadist Radical...mentioning

confidence: 99%

State and Religion: The French Response to Jihadist Violence

Zinigrad

Sawyer

2023

Religions

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The five acts of jihadist violence between 2012–2020, particularly the 2015 Paris attacks, combined with an increasingly polarized political discourse in France, have pushed jihadist extremism to the center of government policy and public opinion. Approaches to jihadist extremism in the last decade have comprised two characteristics: claims amalgamating Islam and Muslim religious practice—especially in its stricter forms—with extremist violence, along with the idea that such forms of dangerous religious indoctrination are best battled through education. As a result, there has been a renewed debate concerning the principle of laïcité (secularism) within public schools and other public institutions. One of the leading efforts in this context has focused on processes of “deradicalization”. These projects include various educational tools, rehabilitation attempts inside and outside of prisons, cultural and artistic initiatives, and administrative bans imposed on organizations inciting violence. However, the most ambitious of these efforts have also been subject to the greatest criticism. Projects within the public school system have been accused of securitizing education and stigmatizing Muslim students, whereas measures undertaken in prisons are currently limited to risk assessment of inmates linked with jihadist violence, while lacking more meaningful plans for their rehabilitation. Public–private partnerships have developed more promising initiatives, but their moderate success is still recent and requires further study.

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“…However, in the context of security, unified governments seem to be in a relatively better condition when challenged with terrorist attacks, rather than being punished for these attacks. Studies based on public opinion surveys attribute this to the ability of executives to control the narrative on security responses (Carlin, Love & Martínez-Gallardo, 2015; Faucher & Boussaguet, 2018).…”

Section: Incumbency Elections and Terrorismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Avoiding fallout from terrorist attacks: The role of local politics and governments

Arı

Bayer

Kemahlıoğlu

et al. 2022

Journal of Peace Research

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Even though violent attacks resulting in civilian fatalities can be seen as constituting failure on the part of the incumbent party to provide security to citizens, governments are not always punished electorally. Rather, at times, they appear to gain votes following terrorist attacks. Here we argue that political parties that can take advantage of their local presence to frame and communicate their narrative in response to terrorism, can better manage to avoid blame and even to emerge victorious in times of violent conflict. The AKP in Turkey is one such important example. Our statistical analyses of municipality-level aggregate election results show that the party not only maintained national incumbency, but even strengthened its predominance in the political system in the face of growing security threats. In municipalities where AKP controlled the local government and hence municipal resources, the party did not lose votes following terrorist attacks. This finding remains even when we consider past voting, regional variations, competitive districts, and ethnicity. Our argument that incumbents can avoid punishment through their capacity to reach out to voters at the local level is also supported by individual-level survey data and the comparison with neighboring municipalities. As such, we highlight how local government control can be consequential for national politics, including periods when security dominates the national agenda.

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The Politics of Symbols: Reflections on the French Government’s Framing of the 2015 Terrorist Attacks

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Indivisibilité, Sécurité, Laïcité: the French ban on the burqa and the niqab

Indivisibilité, Sécurité, Laïcité: the French ban on the burqa and the niqab

State and Religion: The French Response to Jihadist Violence

Avoiding fallout from terrorist attacks: The role of local politics and governments

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