Caroline Fourest

Caroline Fourest (born September 19, 1975 in Aix-en-Provence) is a French feminist writer, documentary director, journalist, columnist (every Saturday in Le Monde until 14 July 2012), radio presenter (every Monday on the France Culture public radio channel), editor of the magazine ProChoix ("antiracist" and "secularist"), and author of Frère Tariq ("Brother Tariq"), a critical look at the works of Muslim intellectual Tariq Ramadan.

Education and career

A graduate in sociology and political science, Fourest has written many books on such topics as the conservative right, the pro-life movement (France and USA), and on current fundamentalist trends in Abrahamic religions. She served as President of the Gay and Lesbian Center, beginning in 1999.

In March 2006, Fourest signed MANIFESTO: Together facing the new totalitarianism, a manifesto "against Islamist Totalitarianism" that gained wide publicity. The other 11 signatories include Salman Rushdie, Ibn Warraq, Maryam Namazie, Taslima Nasreen, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Fourest has received several political awards for her work, including the National Award of "Laïcité" in 2005, and the "Award of the political book" in 2006.

She is member of the advisory board of the Anna Lindh Foundation, for dialogue between cultures.

Fourest has attacked far right FN politician Marine Le Pen and her politics in a book co-authored with Fiammetta Venner.

Defamation accusations

In October 2012, Caroline Fourest was sentenced to pay a fine of 800 euros and 3300 euros respectively in damages for libeling Marine Le Pen, Jean-Marie Le Pen and Franck Chauffroy in the biography she wrote titled Marine Le Pen.

In October 2014, she was sentenced to pay 6,000 euros for libeling a young Muslim girl, victim of a racist attack in 2013. Fourest had suggested that the attack could have been fabricated, or if it was real that the girl's family could have been responsible; Fourest said she would appeal the verdict.

Filmography

• Sœur Innocenta, priez pour nous !, medium-length documentary co-directed with Fiammetta Venner.
• Safia et Sarah, short film, 18 minutes (2004).
• Hymen : certifiées vierges, documentary (Envoyé spécial, France 2, 2008).
• La Bataille des droits de l'homme, documentary (Arte, 2009).
• Des Petits Soldats contre l'avortement, documentary (Canal+, 2011).
• Marine Le Pen, l'héritière, documentary co-directed with Fiammetta Venner (France 2, 2011).
• 100 Muslim women talk about themselves, documentary series of 20 episodes co-directed with Fiammetta Venner (France 24, 2011).
• Nos seins, nos armes ! (Our breasts, our weapons!), documentary about Femen co-directed and co-written with Nadia El Fani (France 2, 2013)
• Les Réseaux de l'extrême, documentary series in 4 parts: Les Obsédés du complot, Les Radicaux de l'islam, Les Enragés de l'identité and Les Naufragés de Sion (France 5, 2013).

External links

• Caroline Fourest's blog (in French)
• The blog of her review, ProChoix, in english
• Columns on Alliance of Civilizations's web site
• The two faces of Tariq Ramadan (by Caroline Fourest)