The Thin Line Between Emancipation and Oppression of Muslim Women: Subalternity in France

Alifia Tasya Karisa, Maharani Hapsari, Dr., S.IP., M.A.

2023 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

Laïcité is a French term for their secular system that guarantees the liberty of conscience and freedom of individuals and separates them from any religious order. In France today’s politics, they use the name of laïcité to protect gender equality in the Republic, including immigrant Muslim women. This thesis offers that immigrant Muslim women become the victim of the dominant narrative in France that led them to become the marginalized by using Gayatri Spivak’s Subalternity theory. The dominant narrative attempts to emancipate immigrant Muslim women in order for them to participate further in the public sphere by banning the veil to protect women’s rights, however they are often misrepresented because of oversimplification of their experience and their voice as immigrant Muslim women are often overlooked. As a result, immigrant Muslim women emancipate themselves by wearing the veil. However, their emancipation is considered as an act of submission to the patriarchal Islamic culture, and they receive discrimination in doing their activities in the public sphere, in finding jobs and housing, and they are considered as creating social barriers. That being said, immigrant Muslim women are double discriminated because of their gender identity and religious beliefs. The thesis aims to elucidate the challenges to the emancipation of immigrant Muslim women in France by analyzing the historical context of laïcité, the emergence of Islam in French politics, and the attempts to their emancipation through qualitative study with the help of existing scholar works. 

Laïcité is a French term for their secular system that guarantees the liberty of conscience and freedom of individuals and separates them from any religious order. In France today’s politics, they use the name of laïcité to protect gender equality in the Republic, including immigrant Muslim women. This thesis offers that immigrant Muslim women become the victim of the dominant narrative in France that led them to become the marginalized by using Gayatri Spivak’s Subalternity theory. The dominant narrative attempts to emancipate immigrant Muslim women in order for them to participate further in the public sphere by banning the veil to protect women’s rights, however they are often misrepresented because of oversimplification of their experience and their voice as immigrant Muslim women are often overlooked. As a result, immigrant Muslim women emancipate themselves by wearing the veil. However, their emancipation is considered as an act of submission to the patriarchal Islamic culture, and they receive discrimination in doing their activities in the public sphere, in finding jobs and housing, and they are considered as creating social barriers. That being said, immigrant Muslim women are double discriminated because of their gender identity and religious beliefs. The thesis aims to elucidate the challenges to the emancipation of immigrant Muslim women in France by analyzing the historical context of laïcité, the emergence of Islam in French politics, and the attempts to their emancipation through qualitative study with the help of existing scholar works. 

Kata Kunci : immigrant Muslim women, laïcité, gender equality, subalternity, discrimination