Muslim and Catholic Experiences of National Belonging in France
Carol Ferrara
Emerson College
Date: Thursday, April 10, 2025
Time: 12 - 1pm
Location: 24 Quincy Road, Conference Room
Muslim and Catholic Experiences of National Belonging in France (Bloomsburg 2024) juxtaposes experiences of national identity and belonging among French Muslims and Catholics respectively in order to examine the causes and dynamics of minority marginalization in plural secular societies. Drawing upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork across France within spaces of religious education and interfaith dialogue, the book illustrates the inequities between Muslim and Catholic citizens in opportunities for national belonging, political and civic engagement, and institution-building. This reexamination of Muslim exclusion against the backdrop of Catholic inclusion calls into question popular explanations for minority marginalization – especially those that blame non-adherence to French Republican principles or the exclusionary power of secular discourse. Instead, author Carol Ferrara argues that the boundaries of French belonging are policed by francité -a tacit national imaginary ideal-type that draws upon and reproduces national cognitive biases and undermines the French republican values of secularism, equality, liberty, and fraternity. Given the central role of francité in the politics of belonging, Ferrara suggests that paths toward greater pluralism in France and beyond lie in the reframing of national identity narratives and reimagining the inclusive potential of secular democratic values.
Carol Ferrara is an anthropologist and assistant professor in the Marketing Communication Department at Emerson College. Her research has focused on the intersection of religion, education, and national identity. She has published several articles and book chapters about religious education, private Muslim schooling, and secularism in France, most recently Muslim and Catholic Experiences of National Belonging in France with Bloomsbury Academic Press as part of the Islam in the Global West book series. Her new research project, “Ethics and equitable education choices” focuses on family expectations of education, information access, and improving equity in Boston's school choice system. Her courses in Marketing Communication encourage students to reimagine business-related processes, organization, composition, and structures to make marketing and businesses more socially and environmentally responsible. Carol holds a PhD in sociocultural anthropology from Boston University, a dual MA degree in Islam and Middle Eastern Studies and International Affairs from the American University of Paris, and an BSc in International Business from Rochester Institute of Technology. She lives in Dorchester with her husband and two sons.
Photo credits: Christopher Soldt, MTS