Religion and the French policy making system: debates on the Law on Separatism

This paper will focus on the French law generally referred as Law on Separatism (Loi du 24 août 2021 confortant le respect des principes de la République) and the current debates in the French society. The content of the law - since the first drafts - and the actions before the Council of State and the Constitutional Council - by several religious movements - will be analyzed to draw a picture of the relations between religion and the French policy making system. Data on religiosity in France - especially migrants' religiosity (from the INED/INSEE survey Trajectories and Origins) and the public discourse on religion will also be used to question the assumption of a general religious illiteracy of the society because of the French secularism, or laïcité and its consequences on the French management of religious diversity.