Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

In France, Afghan asylum seekers are expected to demonstrate “westernization” during their court hearings. I focus on “westernization’s” nebulousness and the ambivalent feelings it elicits to reflect on norms of whiteness and the legitimization of Islamophobia in the asylum seeking process.

Paper long abstract

This paper explores the concept of “westernization” (“occidentalisation” in French) as it is deployed in hearings of Afghan men at the National Court of Asylum in the Paris region. In addition to proving they have faced political persecution in their country of origin, Afghan men are expected to demonstrate that they have adopted “western” lifestyles and values incompatible with the Taliban regime that would put them at risk of government repression if they returned to Afghanistan.

In early 2026, an official court decision emphasized that learning French and volunteering – two activities that asylum seekers can mention to show they are “westernized” – do not suffice to prove “occidentalisation”. No standard definition of “westernization” exists, but during court hearings, questions frequently center on asylum seekers’ relationship with Islam and opinions about women’s place in society.

Building on long-term fieldwork at the French National Court of Asylum in the Paris region observing audiences of male Afghan immigrants, as well as interviews with asylum seekers, lawyers and judges, I delineate the contours of “westernization” as an Islamophobic concept used to scrutinize Afghan Muslims’ conformity to a nebulous set of behaviors and values that can best be defined as “whiteness”. I focus on the affective valence of lawyers’ and judges’ engagement with “westernization”, showing how expressions of discomfort and uncertainty performatively exonerate the construction of whiteness through the abjection of Islam, often in the name of protecting women’s rights.