ABSTRACT
Normand discusses the case of “a young minority girl who decided one day to enlarge the headscarf or ‘bandana’ she had been wearing in a French secondary school since the beginning of the school year”. As Arendt (1981) states, “Appearing always means seeming to others, and this appearance varies according to the point where the spectator is situated and the perspective chosen”. Thus, “making the event public is not self-evident (Derouet 2003; Dutercq 2004)” since “many teachers do not dare voice their sentiments outside classrooms: so on a daily basis they often prefer loyalty or to step back (Payet 1997; Hirschman 1970; Van Zanten 2001).” The event occurred in a school “located in a disadvantaged area in a large regional town where many French citizens of North African descent live. Many young girls wear a veil but they take it off at the entrance of the school. It is a popular vocational school which has however seen its reputation decline for a few years. Because of a tradition of excellence and because of the commitment of the successive principals to maintain it at the best level, hierarchical links constitute a strong component of the relationships between agents in the school (Derouet 1992; Boltanski and Thévenot 1991).”
