The End of Secularisme ? Laïcité, the Hagia Sophia and Contemporary Euroislam

Discussion avec Nilüfer Göle (CESPRA) organisée par Yochi Fischer (The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute).

The conflict between laïcité (the French concept of secularism) and public expressions of collective and personal religiosity is not new. The events of the last few months, however – and the reactions by mainstream French politicians – seem seem to mark a new fault line between the secularized Christian state and its growing Muslim population. The conflict around issues of terror and Islam in contemporary Europ has been amplified by a heated exchange between French President Macron and Turkish President Erdogan – the later being himself under fire lately for converting the Hagia Sphia Museum in Instanbul back into a mosque. In the discussion, Prof. Nilüfer Göle will address the underlying religious and political contexts of these and other developments, such as the Reclaiming Public Space movements, and will attempt to understand what they might mean for the future of secularism in Europ, the Middle East, and the world.