THIS week France came back from the beach for la rentrée, the return to school and work after the holidays. The summer had been far from restful. It began with two terrorist attacks in Nice and Normandy, followed by a weeks-long political fixation with the “burkini”, a cross between a burqa and a swimsuit, which dozens of mayors of seaside resorts tried to ban from their beaches. The resurgence of identity politics in France, at a time of heightened tension over Islam and security, now looks likely to frame next year’s presidential election.
The row over the burkini will probably abate as the beaches empty. On August 26th, France’s highest administrative court suspended a ban imposed in the Mediterranean resort of Villeneuve-Loubet after it was challenged by human-rights groups. The court ruled that the mayor had not proved any risk to public order, and that the ban constituted a “manifestly illegal” infringement of “fundamental liberties”.
Had France not been under a state of emergency, the matter might not have flared up as it did. But the French are hyper-sensitive to signs of overt Muslim religiosity. Politicians, roused from their holiday hide-outs, seized on the burkini row—and not just on the right. Manuel Valls, the Socialist prime minister, called the burkini an “enslavement” of women, and claimed it was part of a political project to impose hard-line Islamist rules on France. In a speech, he noted that Marianne, a female figure symbolising the French nation, is classically depicted with bare breasts. The implication seemed to be that women in burkinis are un-French, while true French women go topless.
France has a long history of trying to keep religion out of public life. A law of 1905 entrenched the principle of laïcité, or strict secularism, after a struggle against authoritarian Catholicism. The country banned the headscarf and other “conspicuous” religious symbols from state schools in 2004, and the face-covering burqa from public places in 2010. Indeed, such laws enjoy broad cross-party support. Yet secular zeal at times overrides common sense, or sensitivity to France’s Muslim minority, estimated to form about 10% of the population. Unlike the burqa, which is banned from the beach, the burkini does not even cover the face. As Olivier Roy, a French scholar of Islam, points out, it also offers a certain modern liberty to Muslim women who otherwise might not swim. Hard-line Islamists, he says, would not allow women to bathe in the first place.
The burkini frenzy sets the tone for an election season of culture wars over French identity. Nicolas Sarkozy, a former president vying for the nomination of the conservative Republican party, says he wants to ban the burkini altogether. So does Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, who claims that the “soul of France” is at stake. Yet amid this feverish identity politics, some voices are trying to appeal for calm. One is Alain Juppé, a centre-right former prime minister and presidential hopeful. He backed the local burkini bans, but says national legislation would be provocative. Another, on the left, is Emmanuel Macron, who resigned on August 30th as economy minister.
Mr Macron’s departure had been widely expected. In April he launched a new political movement, En Marche! (“On the Move!”). Although he stopped short of declaring this week that he would run for president, that may be a matter of time, say some close to him. A former adviser to President François Hollande, Mr Macron is now an unambiguous rival to his Socialist former mentor, whose own chances of running for re-election dwindle by the day. The ex-minister is trying to build a platform of economic reform to resist populist nationalism and identity politics.
On leaving his ministry, Mr Macron said that his government experience had taught him the limits of the current political system. He now hopes to redraw the partisan map, pulling in support from both left and right for a pro-European, centrist movement that embraces globally-minded progressive politics. This is a daunting challenge, not least because Mr Macron has never stood for election for any office before, is short of money and has little parliamentary support.
It also seems to cut against the the national mood. After 18 months of barbaric terrorist attacks, France is leaning towards tightening restrictions on liberty, not loosening them. Freed from the constraints of the economics portfolio, Mr Macron will now be able to speak out on matters such as terrorism and religion. With the country so on edge, France could do with a dose of measured reflection.