Publisher : Le Bord de l'eau - Lormont
French
The authoritarian republic. Islam in France and the Republican illusion
Publisher’s presentation
The logic of suspicion has become the compass of the French state.
Since 2015 and the attacks of January and November, the preventive and repressive policy of the State has been inflected, through a whole series of new legal devices and means, to the detriment of individual and collective liberties, and to the great displeasure of human rights organisations. Authoritarian practices, which can be seen here and there, have developed and spread from the centres of institutional power, with the direct or indirect support of certain associative actors, activists and, more rarely, some researchers.
The deployment of a security arsenal is neither a novelty nor an incongruity in a democracy, especially when exceptionally serious and deadly phenomena occur. On the other hand, what is certainly new is the target of the repression; today it is concentrated more than in the past on minority groups, perceived as deviant, or supposedly more deviant than others, because of their origin and presumed religion, despite the denials and the conventional speeches.
It is then that republicanism falters, its principles crumble on the altar of, among other things, a blatant instrumentalisation of secularism, transformed by some into a disciplinary tool for bodies and minds, or even a catechism without a Church. It is therefore no longer just the law that is being tightened, but the political discourse that is becoming more rigid, more martial and moralising. The state, its representatives and its relays no longer target exclusively the fomenters and perpetrators of acts of terrorism. An overbidding can now be seen in the appreciation of lifestyles and the content of religious doctrines professed and taught in particular in Muslim circles. A logic of suspicion is thus being insinuated and established, in which the media regularly participate, breaking with the ethics of responsibility. This logic of suspicion bypasses the legalism embodied by Muslim actors and social agents, who are increasingly called upon to prove their republican attachment, even though the financial and economic elites, supported or endorsed by the State, have long since seceded.
Présentation de l’éditeur
La logique du soupçon est devenue la boussole de l’État français.
Depuis 2015 et les attentats de janvier et novembre, la politique préventive et répressive de l’État s’est infléchie, par toute une série de nouveaux dispositifs et moyens légaux, au détriment des libertés individuelles et collectives, et au grand dam des organisations de défense des droits humains. Des pratiques autoritaires, repérables çà et là, se sont développées et étendues depuis les centres du pouvoir institutionnel, avec le concours direct ou indirect de certains acteurs associatifs, activistes et, plus rarement, quelques chercheurs.
Le déploiement d’un arsenal sécuritaire n’est ni une nouveauté ni une incongruité en démocratie, surtout lorsque surviennent des phénomènes exceptionnellement graves et meurtriers. En revanche, ce qui est assurément nouveau, c’est la cible de la répression ; celle-ci se concentre aujourd’hui plus qu’hier sur des groupes minoritaires, perçus comme déviants, ou supposément plus déviants que d’autres, à raison de l’origine et de la religion présumée, malgré les dénégations et les discours convenus.
C’est alors que le républicanisme vacille, ses principes s’effritent sur l’autel entre autres d’une instrumentalisation flagrante de la laïcité, transformé par certains en outil disciplinaire des corps et des esprits, voire en catéchisme sans Église. Ce n’est donc plus seulement la loi qui se durcit, mais véritablement le discours politique qui se rigidifie, se fait plus martial et moralisateur. L’État, ses représentants et ses relais ne visent plus exclusivement les fomenteurs et auteurs d’actes de terrorisme. Une surenchère se lit désormais dans l’appréciation des styles de vie et le contenu des doctrines religieuses professées et enseignées en particulier dans les milieux musulmans. S’insinue et s’installe ainsi une logique du soupçon à laquelle participent régulièrement des médias en rupture avec l’éthique de responsabilité. Cette logique de la suspicion passe outre le légalisme incarné par les acteurs et agents sociaux musulmans, sommés toujours davantage de faire la preuve de leur attachement républicain alors même que les élites financières et économiques, elles, soutenues ou adoubées par l’État, ont fait sécession depuis longtemps.
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