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Michel Wieviorka

De la séparation des Eglises et de l'Etat à l'avenir de la laïcité

• Les entretiens d'Auxerre
  Michel Wieviorka avec Jean Bauberot direction
  La Tour d'Aigues, Editions de l’Aube, septembre 2005, 363 p.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  From the 1905 Law of Separation of Church and State to the Future of Secularism.
  The Auxerre Conference
  On Sept. 4, 1904, Prime Minister Emile Combes took a clear stand in favor of secularism. His speech in Auxerre (in the Yonne department) launched the process that would lead to the 1905 law of separation of Church and State. In spite of quarrels and conflicts, secularism eventually became firmly established as one of the basic principles of the French Republic. Until the late 1980s, the issue of secularism in France was usually linked to the opposition between public and private schools. However, the first controversies over the "headscarves" worn by Muslim schoolgirls transformed the debate, turning secularism into the central issue of renewed debates over the integration of Islam within the French Republic. The role and importance of secularism has thus evolved, and continues to evolve, in France. While the concept is deeply rooted within French society, secularism constitutes an issue in other countries. Hence the 2004 Auxerre Conference, which brought together researchers from several countries, along with religious and political leaders.

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