The research project examines the civic and political participation and the activism of women of Muslim background through a comparison of two countries: Britain and France. It looks at ways in which Muslim women interact with state and civil society’s institutions, within the specific political cultures and structures of the countries under study. It explores their capacity to reconstitute themselves as social actors whilst articulating their position as women, ethnic minorities, and Muslims. It will present a sociological profile of these women in the two countries. It studies the arena within which they stage their action: in their own groups and in their interface with British and French society. It analyses their positioning vis-à-vis the burning question of the hijab and radical Islam. This project leads an in-depth research which includes a strong empirical thrust: archival and documentary research, a quantitative survey based on a questionnaire designed according to the Audit of Political Engagement in Britain (MORI), about one hundred qualitative interviews with the women one third of which occupy leading positions, interviews with relevant policy-makers, participant-observation in associations and sociological intervention. It elaborates on theoretical dimensions in the light of new original data.