Islam and the problems of cultural identity in modern society (on the example of France)

Abstract

The article deals with the historical context of the ongoing changes in the value base of Western European culture on the example of France. French society connects the basis of its stability with the principle of secularism, according to which religiosity is an element of the individual’s private life. The pronounced external religiosity of Muslims in the public space arouses anxiety about the loss of their own cultural specificity, which forms an ideological split in society into friends and foes. This tension creates favourable conditions for the spread of extreme currents, be it communitarianism, identitarianism or jihadism. Basing on statistical data, the author shows that the event outline is built around the issue of identity. The choice of cultural identity in the conditions of competition of symbolic systems, according to the author, is imperative at this stage in the development of a globalised pluralistic world. This process is associated with the need for new forms of unity, embodied in diverse eclectic forms of cultural, political and social associations. The author emphasises the need to develop a common ideological basis for the peaceful coexistence of various value positions as a preventive step in a potentially conflict environment.