Quebec's Struggle to Accommodate
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Quebec's history with the Catholic Church has significantly shaped its current "crisis of accommodation." The Quiet Revolution marked a dramatic shift for Quebec, from a society deeply influenced by Catholicism to one embracing secularism and state welfare. Thus, the decline of Catholic authority left a vacuum in Québécois identity. This rapid secularization, Mahrouse proposes, created a sense of cultural vulnerability among Québécois and anxieties about cultural preservation amidst increasing immigration. A prevailing sentiment began then to equate religious expression with threats to the province's hard-won secular values.
Francophone Quebec's dual position as a minority within Canada and a majority within the province further informs its relationships with "others." Quebec has developed a defensive stance toward its cultural integrity in response to a historical struggle against Anglophone dominance. Interculturalism is championed by the province, as it places the integration of immigrants into Francophone culture and the preservation of the French language at the core of maintaining Québécois identity.
In this context, the hijab symbolizes an incompatible cultural and religious "other.” The French debate over the hijab began in 1989 with controversies around laïcité (secularism) in schools. Proponents of the 2004 law banning hijabs in schools argued for gender equality, framing the hijab as inherently oppressive to the Muslim woman. This framing rendered the hijabi hypervisible as a symbol of oppression, yet invisible as an autonomous subject, casting their decisions to veil as acts of “false consciousness”.
Al-Saji furthermore critiques translations like "veil" and "foulard," arguing that they simplify and distort the hijab's meaning. "Foulard" reduces the hijab a removable accessory and ignores its integral role in the wearer’s bodily and cultural identity. "Veil," on the other hand, carries Orientalist stereotypes, portraying Muslim women as oppressed and Islam as regressive. These reductions fuel misrepresentations in debates over the hijab.