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21 Cardozo L. Rev. 1267 (1999-2000)
French Secularism, or Laicite

handle is hein.journals/cdozo21 and id is 1281 raw text is: FRENCH SECULARISM, OR LAICITA Michel Troper* French secularism--or lait-is usually defined as a system in which there is a separation between religion and the state. That is to say, political and administrative powers are exercised by nonreligious authorities.' In that sense, the United States is sometimes considered in France a lac state, even if this term is not used, because in the United States the state is independent of any particular religion. If the United States practiced larcit, without being aware of the term, we could equate American la~cit6 with separation between church and state. Separation is not, however, an appropriate translation of lakcitg because they are not really the same thing-there is a distinctiveness to French secularism. This distinctiveness is immediately apparent when one examines the rules that apply to French secularism but which are not applied to the principle of the separation of religion and state in other countries. Let us take one very simple real-life example: a teacher in a French public school was sanctioned for wearing a small gold cross on a chain around her neck. Such a sanction was considered to follow logically from the principle of secularism, but would not follow merely from the principle of separation as understood in the United States. I will first examine the reasons for the distinctiveness of French secularism. Second, I will describe various ambiguities and difficulties arising from this distinction. Finally, I will attempt to construct a general typology of the attitudes of the state regarding religious values. I. THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF FRENCH SECULARISM The distinctiveness of French secularism cannot be understood without taking into account several factors. * Professor, Universitd de Paris X-Nanterre; Member, Institut Universitaire de France; Director, Centre de Th6orie du Droit de l'Universit6 de Paris X. 1 See VOCABULAIRE JURIDIQUE 454 (Gdrard Cornu ed., 2d ed. 1992). 2 See GUY HAARSCHER, LA LAICrrt 3 (2d ed. 1998). 1267

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