June 12-15, 2005

The purpose of this international colloquium is to compare U.S. and French policies toward Muslim integration and assess the long-term implications of such policies for Muslim democratic inclusion. The specific focus is on the practice of veiling because it encapsulates the controversy over incorporating Muslim communities into secular societies whose values are often at odds with Islamic beliefs and practices. The conference will bring together leading scholars in the U.S. and France, and the proceedings will result in an edited volume.

The conference is being organized by Jen'nan Ghazal Read, UC Irvine, and is made possible by support from the Borchard Foundation and Center for the Study of Democracy.

U.S. Participants

Jen'nan Ghazal Read, (Organizer and Convener)
Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine

Kathleen Moore, Law and Society, University of California, Santa Barbara
“Si(gh)ting Muslim Women on the U.S. Landscape: Visible through the Veil”

Louise Cainkar, University of Illinois
“The Hijab, the State, and Laissez Faire Capitalism in the US: Free to Wear, Free to be Rejected”

Caitlin Killian, Drew University
”From a Community of Believers to an Islam of the Heart: Maghrebin Women in France”

Yvonne Haddad,
Department of History and Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

French Participants

Sophie Body-Gendrot, University of Paris 3
“France Upside Down over Headscarves”

Romain Garbaye, University of Paris 4
“The Participation of Muslim Groups in British and French Local Politics 1980-2004”

Riva Kastoryano,
Radcliffe Institute Fellow,Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris

Vincent Geisser,
Institute for Research and Studies on the Arab and Muslim World (IREMAM)

Nancy Venel,
Center for Sociological Analysis and Intervention (CADIS)

Publications from the conference can be found here and here.

The conference was be held at the Hotel de la Bretesche, Missilac (Bretagne), France.

For further information on the conference please contact the conference convenor, Jen'nan Ghazal Read, Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine, California 92697-5100 jennan@uci.edu.