Washington University hosted Didier Pourquery, Editor-In-Chief of The Conversation, France, in Olin Library, March 26. He spoke about the need for a collaborative news outlet such as The Conversation and his plans to engage younger audiences with journalism.  

“It’s like France’s 9/11,” she explained to me. “It is the worst terror attack France has seen in two decades.”

This is about France’s—and the world’s—continuing and increasing tendency to conflate acts of terrorism by a small slice of a massive and otherwise quite peaceful religion with everybody who identifies as a Muslim. This is about those who, in their aggressive cries of “Je suis Charlie!” and defense of free speech, silence the overwhelming number of Muslims attempting to condemn the terrorism of a radicalized few.

As French strikers try to paralyze their country in their efforts to save the welfare state, the parallel with the U.S. could not be starker. In one country the popular, grass-roots movement is trying to save and increase government expenditure. On this side of the Atlantic however, the Tea Partiers have usurped and misunderstood the traditional revolutionary slogan “No taxation without representation”.

The burqa debate is back on in France, and a Washington University anthropologist has become part of it. The French government has asked anthropology professor John Bowen to testify on the matter, as a parliamentary commission is investigating a possible ban on burqas in public places. France banned burqas in public schools in 2004.