Dear reader, The French Presidential elections held earlier this week saw the re-election of Emmanuel Macron as the leader of the country. Trailing very closely behind was far-right politician Marine Le Pen. Although it is expected that with Macron’s victory, France will continue to uphold liberal norms for atleast the next five year, experts say that the very position of a far-right candidate at the heart of this election signals some worrying times ahead for moderates and minorities in France. However, it is also true that right wing politics in France has a long and complicated history going as far back as the French Revolution of 1789, following which French form of secularism was born, also called Laicite. Our story this week by Mira Patel traces the history of right wing politics in France. The concept of laicite essentially means the separation of the church and the state. In other words, religion was to be kept out of the public sphere. The concept has historically paved the way for French nationalism, anti-semitism and more recently Islamophobia in France. This other story from our archives shows how the concept of Laicite has been used by Le Pen to clamp down upon any form of religious symbols in France, including the headscarf and the Sikh turban. Read the stories: The history of extreme right-wing politics in France French secularism and how it helps Marine Le Pen say no to Sikh turbans Sincerely, Adrija Roychowdhury | 
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