Title: Twenty years of femonationalism in France: the veil and other anti-immigration affairs

Authors: Nasima Moujoud

Addresses: Rhône-Alpes Historical Research Laboratory, Grenoble Alpes University, 2 Place Doyen Gosse, 38 000, Grenoble, France

Abstract: In France, discourses and policies which mainly target women and immigration (migrants, foreigners, naturalised citizens, even second-generation in France), especially Muslims, multiplied since the 2000s. Many policies have been carried out simultaneously, particularly aiming to ban the 'veil', 'forced marriage' or 'women trafficking'. Each time, there is reference to the figure of the victim (vulnerable young women) who should be protected from men and from themselves, or from their own religion (or so-called native culture). This paper examines the contexts in which these policies were produced and the ways they discriminate against migrant women on the pretext of protecting them. In this context, the veil joins other cases of femonationalism against the 'presential legitimacy' of postcolonial immigrants and their children in France.

Keywords: immigrant women; veil; forced marriage; prostitution; public discourse; femonationalism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMBS.2024.140135

International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 2024 Vol.8 No.1/2, pp.78 - 93

Accepted: 07 Feb 2024
Published online: 24 Jul 2024 *

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