Conférence « La France est une République laïque »
Whilst the majority of French people affirm their commitment to secularism, there is such widespread confusion regarding its definition that the sociologist of religion, Jean Baubérot-Vincent, has identified seven conceptions of secularism (Les sept laïcités françaises, 2015), ranging from ‘identity-based secularism’ to ‘anti-religious secularism’, including ‘separatist secularism’ and ‘concordat-based secularism’.
Are these conceptions, which feature in current political discourse, reflected in the law? Has the concept evolved since the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, as some authors claim when referring to ‘a new secularism’?
After examining the legal significance of the constitutional principle of secularism, Elsa FOREY will explore its scope of application. Article 1 of the Constitution establishes it as a principle governing the organisation of the State (‘the Republic’ is ‘secular’), which allows us to assert that it applies to the public sphere (the civil service, public buildings). We shall examine whether it extends beyond this, in light of certain recent proposals favouring a ban on signs of religious affiliation in public spaces.
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Elsa FOREY is a professor of public law at the University of Bordeaux (UBE) and a member of CREDESPO (Centre for Research and Study in Law and Political Science).
She has been researching secularism since her PhD (her thesis, defended in 2004, focused on the relationship between the state legal system and religious institutions; it was published in 2007 by Presses universitaires de Strasbourg).
Elsa FOREY is the author of several books (a report on the application of secularism in the justice system, 2019; a collective work co-edited with a legal historian, entitled *Religion: Guardian of Institutions and Freedoms*) and numerous articles (on the ‘Republican Commitment Contract’ introduced by the 2021 Act, on religious associations, on the regime governing religious denominations in Alsace-Moselle and the overseas territories, on the ban on public funding of religious denominations, on the influence of religion in societal debates, etc.). She also recently contributed to the *Code of Secularism and Religious Affairs*, published in 2025 and edited by M. Philip, A-L Youhnovski and B. Beignier.
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date: Monday 15 March 2027
venue: Conference Hall – Châtillon-sur-Seine Town Hall (entrance: Rue du Président Carnot)
Price: members €7 / non-members €9
Contact: accutb21@gmail.com or 06 83 89 36 00
Lectures begin at 2.30 pm sharp: doors open at 2.15 pm