State, Republic and the Minority: The (un)making of Muslims in France

Abstract

Locating her study on French Muslims and formation of Muslim identity in an era of anti-immigrant and refugee crisis, Fredette looks into the multi-layered oppression of French Muslims. Fredette engages in a critique of modern nation state and its ideals of democracy, citizenship and equality. Upon analysing the exclusionary nature of state apparatus, Fredette looks into education, employment and housing of French Muslims and the subsequent identity formation on being an immigrant. Fredette regards the racial and Islamophobic biases towards Muslims and immigrants as ideological fissures inherent in the making of modern nation state. What demarcate Fredette's study is her multiple positionality and analysis of diverse experienciality of being a Muslim in France - where identity is largely governed by class, ethnicity, race and gendered locations.