Secularism functions as a governance technique that marks Muslims as unfit for citizenship

Evidence

I show how the idea of secularism operates as a governmentality, Foucault’s concept referring to the ways in which individual subjects are governed through various institutions and processes that organize modern life. Muslims are produced in this framework as undeserving of full citizenship, including the right to practise their faith as they see fit, a restriction that both marks them as not yet ready for citizenship even as it insists that the public sphere is a universal one where citizens have equal rights. — Sherene Razack, Casting Out, 64

Categorization

• DEFINE: Applies Foucault’s governmentality concept to secularism, showing how an ideal (neutral public sphere) produces a governed, restricted category.
• DEEPTHINKING: The paradox is dense: a claimed-neutral universal sphere simultaneously withholds full citizenship — a self-contradiction with deep analytical payoff.