Differentiated secularism: discourse shaping of immigrants from different religious backgrounds in the French media

The study investigates how French mainstream media employ secularist discourse to construct differentiated images of immigrants by religious background, focusing on Muslims and Ukrainian (Orthodox Christian) immigrants. Against the backdrop of France’s long immigration history, rising numbers of Muslim immigrants, and renewed debates over balancing religious freedom with secular state principles, the paper asks how secularism functions as a discursive mechanism shaping immigrant portrayals. The Russo-Ukrainian war introduced a contrasting case—Ukrainian refugees—who appear to receive more favorable coverage influenced by whiteness and Christian identity. The purpose is to uncover the hidden religious elements in media coverage, the motives and mechanisms behind the construction of divergent discourses, and the policy implications of this “differentiated secularism.”

The review covers three strands. (1) Instrumentalization of secularism: Secularism is multifaceted, with variants including moderate (soft) secularism, radical (hard) secularism, and post-secularism. While not inherently anti-religious, secularism can be instrumentalized as a policy tool internally and externally. In France, laïcité is entwined with republican values and is used to address social conflict, but can be appropriated to exclude Muslim immigrants and betray founding ideals. Muslim critiques argue secularism restricts Muslim rights; resistance within secular frames may perpetuate power relations. (2) Religion and politics: Although church–state relations vary, Europe remains predominantly Christian. Catholicism and Orthodoxy share symbolic systems that facilitate dialogue, and both Islam and Catholicism contain elements supportive of civic autonomy. Illiberal tendencies are not unique to Islam. The political impact of religion depends on how religious symbols enter discourse and the symbolic order, not on doctrine alone. (3) Media images of immigrants: The category “Muslim” has shifted from ethnic/economic to religiously marked identity, with labeling processes impacting integration and identity legitimacy. Right-wing forces often shape negative Muslim portrayals; dramatic events do not always shift attitudes. French media can frame Muslims as troublemakers or enemies via a Europe–Islam dichotomy. Existing work often highlights negative discourse without fully theorizing mechanisms; this paper includes both critical and defending media texts to expose underlying ideologies. Research on Ukrainian refugee images is limited but indicates privileged treatment and Islamophobia-driven double standards compared to Muslim migrants.

Design: Comparative qualitative textual analysis of French media articles on Muslim and Ukrainian immigrants to reveal how religious identity affects media portrayals. Data source and sampling: Europresse database filtered to domestic French media. Keywords (in French) included terms for Muslim immigration, Ukraine emigration/refugees, and Islam/Catholic/Orthodox to gather supplementary religion-related content. Timeframe: 2021–2023. Screening: Titles searched and filtered; full texts read to retain items addressing religion and immigration (reports and editorials). Inclusion criteria and counts (meeting any one was sufficient): (a) Uniqueness of Ukrainian immigrants (10); (b) Understanding Ukrainian immigrants and related issues (19); (c) Welcoming/assistance to Ukrainian immigrants (21); (d) Muslim immigrants’ integration into France (25); (e) Attributes of Muslim immigrants (23); (f) Muslim integration abroad and attitudes toward practices (2). Total: 100 immigration-related articles plus 20 supplementary materials (120 total). Analysis: Using NVivo, the authors conducted manual open coding (ideological tendencies/power relations, e.g., “Great Replacement,” “Fortress Europe”) and emotion coding (positive/negative/ambiguous descriptors). Emotion coding results: Ukrainian immigrants—209 codes (46 positive, 69 negative, 104 unrecognizable/ambiguous); Muslim immigrants—675 codes (88 positive, 391 negative, 196 unrecognizable/ambiguous). Open coding counts: 121 codes related to Muslim immigrants and 168 to Ukrainian immigrants. The study employed symptomatic reading to interpret underlying ideological structures. Visualization summarized code vocabularies and frequencies; example open-coding categories are reported in Tables 1 and 2.

- Secularism as discursive tool: French media deploy secularism to construct distinct immigrant images, foregrounding it in Muslim coverage while largely absent elsewhere. Secularism functions as a national identity marker and justification mechanism rather than facilitating practical integration. - Muslim portrayals: Muslims appear in paradoxical roles—both invaders and subjects requiring discipline. Open coding linked Muslims to invaders/conspiracies (territorial/colonial logic; cultural decline; Crusades tropes) and to misfits/objects of control (calls for calibration, secularization). Emotional coding shows heavy negativity: 675 emotion codes with 391 negative, 88 positive, 196 ambiguous; frequent negative terms include violence, threat, racism; “France” appears nine times and “right-wing” six in negative contexts, indicating national-values framing and attribution to right-wing agenda-setting while overlooking non-right-wing contributions to negative framings. Ambiguous codes center on republican/secular ideals (republic, enlightenment, democracy) with fewer practical life terms (e.g., work). - Ukrainian portrayals: Overall positive and welcoming but deliberately constructed. Open coding highlights welcoming/assistance, soft expectations (learn French, accelerate integration), and reasons grounded in similarity (European, white, Christian), profitability (labor market contributions), and humanitarian ethics. Image characteristics cast Ukrainians as victims and vulnerable groups (women, children) and as value defenders (freedom, democracy, human rights, Fortress Europe) and evaluation standards (double standards, variable geometry reception). Emotional coding: 209 emotion codes with 46 positive, 69 negative, 104 ambiguous; negative emotions target prejudice/double standards rather than Ukrainians directly. “Unity” appears 18 times in positive coding; “double/standards” at least 3 times, “crisis” 4 times, “classification” twice; “language” appears across positive/ambiguous/negative. - Differentiated secularism: Ukrainian immigrants are symbolically homogenized as similar allies (white/Christian/European), while Muslims are symbolically othered as heterogeneous, justifying a covert double standard. Positive Ukrainian portrayals become an instrumental benchmark to critique or further marginalize Muslim immigrants. - Symbolic religious differences: Catholicism’s symbolic advantages (proceduralization/universalization) ease its integration into discourse; Islam resists symbolization (abstract theology, diffuse authority), leading media to forcibly symbolize it via surface signifiers (veils, robes, jihadism). This asymmetry enables exclusionary discourse toward Muslims. - Policy/discursive paradox: French media cannot sustain a fully secular identity; religious/cultural biases permeate discussions, externalizing problems onto Muslim immigrants and risking radicalization through persistent identity-focused frames.

The findings address the central question of how secularist discourse in French media shapes differentiated images of immigrants by religious background. Secularism operates less as a neutral principle than as a discursive power tool that legitimizes selective inclusion and exclusion. Muslims are framed within identity and cultural-religious debates, portrayed as threats and as subjects needing secular correction, without substantive pathways for integration. Ukrainians are framed as welcomed, similar, and value-aligned victims/contributors, creating a comparative standard that reinforces marginalization of Muslims while allowing the media to appear inclusive. This differentiated secularism reveals a paradox: the media claim universalist secular ideals but allow identity anxiety and cultural-security narratives to guide coverage, undermining secular neutrality. The significance lies in showing how religious symbolism (Catholicism’s symbolization versus Islam’s resistance to symbolization) structures media discourse and public understanding, shaping policy narratives and potentially fostering conditions for alienation or radicalization. The study highlights how ostensibly politically correct language can mask prejudice, sustaining stereotypes and hindering immigrant integration.

French media discourse differentiates immigrant portrayals along religious lines. Muslims are constructed through paradoxical, largely negative frames—as invaders and as subjects for secular discipline—while Ukrainians are constructed as welcomed guests, victims, defenders, and contributors, with emphasis on similarity (white, Christian, European) and instrumental value. Secularism functions as a discursive identity and control mechanism rather than a practical integrative framework, producing pseudo-debates around religious identity and externalizing social anxieties onto Muslims. Symbolic advantages of Catholicism versus Islam’s difficulty of symbolization enable exclusionary discourse against Muslims, while a harmonious metaphor between Catholicism and Orthodoxy positions Islam in a symbolic crisis role. These dynamics risk impeding immigrant integration. Future research should more finely distinguish immigrant categories (immigrant vs refugee) and examine the intersections between discourse and political-economic structures affecting integration outcomes.

The study does not deliberately distinguish between immigrants and refugees or closely analyze differences in their media representation. It devotes insufficient attention to how political-economic issues intersect with discursive constructions. Additionally, while the dataset spans 2021–2023 (plus supplementary materials), broader temporal or media-format comparisons could further validate generalizability.