The French Republic unveiled

How long can a beard be before it becomes a political weapon? How can one distinguish between a discreet and ostentatious deployment of signs of cultural difference? What signs of cultural identity are acceptable in the public sphere? In this article I shall argue that these questions can only be answered by understanding the French republican model. First, I shall suggest that France continues to 'veil' itself in a mythical past concerning the Republic and race. I shall then argue that contemporary debates about the visibility of signs of cultural difference in the public sphere often reproduce this mythologized view of the French republic. Finally I shall suggest that there is a need to demythologize republican memory and expose the hidden mechanism of the republican model for a proper understanding of the present. This article is not about beards, headscarves or any other sign of cultural difference per se but, by reversing the gaze on republican France, attempts to unveil the hidden ideology of the French republican model which constructs beards and headscarves as political weapons.