France, Islam and ‘Laïcité’

<p>“Laïcité,” or secularism, the principle that separates religion from the state in France, has long provoked heated dispute in the country. It has intensified recently, when a teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded after showing his class caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.</p><p>We look at the roots of secularism and ask whether it works in modern, multicultural France.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/constant-meheut">Constant Méheut</a>, a reporter for The New York Times in France.</p><p>For an exclusive look at how the biggest stories on our show come together, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. You can read the latest edition <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-daily-newsletter">here</a>.</p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>For generations, public schools assimilated immigrant children into French society by instilling the nation’s ideals. The beheading of a teacher raised doubts about<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/26/world/europe/france-beheading-teacher.html?searchResultPosition=6"> whether that model still worked</a>.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit </p><p><a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily.</a></p><p> Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.</p>