The ‘weaponization’ of French secularism

Calls for a boycott of French products are growing throughout the Muslim world in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s robust defense of the right to mock religion, including Islam. This follows the brutal murder of a schoolteacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. It is the latest twist in a years-long debate over the nature of French secularism. So what exactly does the idea mean, and who should it protect? We are talking to Rim-Sarah Alouane, a French legal researcher and PhD candidate who researches religious freedom, human rights and civil liberties in France.