Religion, Coloniality and Women’s Rights
Abstract
In response to Rola El-Husseini’s article, “Double Standards and Dissonance: Women’s Rights and Freedom of Religion in the Global North,” this paper addresses the French approach to secularism and women’s rights within a context of coloniality. Analyzing France’s secular framework, I explore the secular control over Muslim women’s attire and identity, tracing these regulations back to colonial practices. By examining how religious expression, particularly in relation to Islam, is selectively restricted, this commentary highlights the paradox of French “laïcité” as both a liberating and oppressive force, revealing ongoing colonial legacies in contemporary women’s rights discourse.
Keywords
gender, religion, secularity, assimilation, sexuality, coloniality
Author Biography
Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun
Sonia Dayan-Herzbrun is professor emerita of political sociology at Université Paris Cité, a member of the Laboratoire de Changement Social et Politique, director of the journal Tumultes and member of the editorial board of the journal En attendant Nadeau. In 2016, she was awarded the Prize Frantz Fanon by the Caribbean Philosophical Association. Her early work focused on the relationship between myth and memory in relation to the history of the labor movement. Her current research focuses on the decolonial paradigm and on women's agentivity in the Middle East. Among her recent books are “Mobilisations collectives, religions, émancipation” (Tumultes/Kimé, 2018), L'impensé colonial des sciences sociales (with Aissa Kadri, published by Tumultes/Kimé, 2022), Rien qu'une vie (Hémisphères, 2022), and Decolonial Pluriversalism (with Zahra Ali, published by Rowman & Littelfield, 2024).