^aUniversité libre de Bruxelles (ULB), CEVIPOL, 44, Avenue Jeanne, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Abstract

This paper addresses the political debates surrounding the adoption of the 2004 French law on religious signs using key concepts from political theory. The analysis of the arguments used to justify this law shows that the issue of the Islamic headscarf has recently been tackled by political elites through a symbolic framework influenced mainly by a communitarian version of republicanism. The paper then critically discusses three contemporary alternative ways of dealing with the issue of cultural diversity through Taylor's, Kymlicka's and Laborde's theories, respectively, and finally advocates a radical liberal approach more compatible with a respect for pluralism and a strict definition of individual rights.