France Archives - Bridge Initiative

24 Apr 2026 | Policy/Law

PERFORMING NEUTRALITY, PRACTICING EXCLUSION: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE HIJAB BAN IN SPORTS

Sport is hailed as a universal language, a space where people of diverse backgrounds come together in pursuit of excellence, teamwork and fair play (Amnesty International, 2024). However, beneath this ideal lies a persistent reality where racism and religious discrimination continue to shape how athletes are perceived and whether they are welcome (Amnesty International, 2024). The ḥijāb ban is one such example... read the complete article

Article

14 Nov 2024 | Policy/Law

Hostile Policies, Daily Struggles: How Islamophobia Shapes Life for Muslims in Europe

Over the past decade, Europe has seen a pronounced shift to the right, as far-right parties across the continent have moved into the mainstream. A significant driver of this shift has been the persistence and visibility of Islamophobia within European society. Anti-Muslim attitudes are widespread, and many elected officials have capitalized on these sentiments. By using Muslim communities as scapegoats, they deflect attention from policy shortcomings, and have instead gained support by appealing to negative perceptions of Muslims. read the complete article

Article

28 Jun 2024 | Politics

E.U. Far-Right Parties Dominate 2024 Parliamentary Elections

Every five years, the European Union (EU) holds continent-wide parliamentary elections to select 720 lawmakers to represent them in decision-making at the EU level. In the run-up to the June 2024 EU parliamentary elections, the current EU Parliament President, Roberta Metsola from Malta, urged Europeans to vote, especially given that right-wing ultranationalist political parties were polling strongly. read the complete article

Article

24 Jan 2024 | Individuals

France: State Islamophobia under President Emmanuel Macron

Emmanuel Macron was elected in May 2017 for the first of his two terms on an electoral platform promising an inclusive, open and modern liberal society where multiculturalism—which had been a negative term in French media and politics—was refreshingly presented as an asset for the country. read the complete article

Infographic

20 Oct 2023 | Policy/Law

Timeline: France’s targeting of Muslim women’s dress

Over the past two decades, the French government has passed a number of laws that have significantly impacted the rights of French Muslim women, namely their right to free expression and freedom of religion. Under... read the complete article

Article

27 Jan 2023 | Policy/Law

Secularism and sinicization: two concepts used to eradicate Muslim identity

In 2021, a European Muslim youth led organization created a campaign to counter discrimination and promote pluralism by showcasing a European woman wearing a hijab. The ad highlighted that freedom means having the ability to... read the complete article

Article

22 Dec 2022 | Policy/Law

2022 Islamophobia in Review: Europe

2022 was another turbulent year for Europe. There were a number of elections, and new heads of state were chosen in France, Italy, and the United Kingdom. A new refugee crisis occurred as millions of... read the complete article

Article

23 Nov 2022 | Policy/Law

On the Politicization of Muslim Women’s Bodies

The politicization of women’s bodies has been a fixture in nation-building. Throughout history, women’s bodies have been used as political and ideological battlegrounds, upon which ruling elites debate and issue laws aimed at defining a... read the complete article

Article

17 Nov 2022 | Policy/Law

Criminalizing Muslim agency in Europe: The case of ‘political Islam’ in Austria, Germany, and France

This article discusses the emergence of a discourse on ‘political Islam’ in the policy circles of European elites. It interprets this discourse on one hand as a manifestation of the further criminalization of Muslimness emanating from programs of countering... read the complete article

Editorial

04 Nov 2022 | Politics

Please Don’t Let Islamophobia Co-Opt Hijab Protests

In my nearly two decades as an international human rights lawyer, I have rarely seen stranger political bedfellows than watching anti-Muslim forces cheering pro-democracy Iranians in the wake of the horrific murder of 22-year-old Mahsa... read the complete article