Republic of Islamophobia: The Rise of Respectable Racism in France
Jim Wolfreys
(Hurst, £14.99)

WHEN the government of a country, with the support of much of its populace, bans Muslim women from covering their face in public and prohibits Muslim children from wearing headscarves in schools, it’s hard to ascribe the phenomenon to anything other than Islamophobia.

[[{"fid":"3285","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"},"link_text":null}]]Thus Jim Wolfreys’s book wastes little time on trying to build a case that widespread anti-Muslim feeling actually exists in France, although he does quickly assemble the evidence. Instead, he concentrates on looking for the reasons behind such a phenomenon.

The growth of Islamophobia in that country, he argues, has been aided by the widespread abandonment of conviction politics and has stemmed from attempts by mainstream politicians to steal the thunder of the Front National, adopting policies and rhetoric that have dressed up racism in a cloak of respectability.