1st Edition
The Burqa Affair Across Europe Between Public and Private Space
In recent years, the wearing of the full-face veil or burqa/niqab has proved a controversial issue in many multi-cultural European societies. Focussing on the socio-legal and human rights angle, this volume provides a useful comparative perspective on how the issue has been dealt with across a range of European states as well as at European institutional level. In so doing, the work draws a theoretical framework for the place of religion between public and private space. With contributions from leading experts from law, sociology and politics, the book presents a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to one of the most contentious and symbolic issues of recent times.
Biography
Alessandro Ferrari teaches Law and Religion and Comparative Religious Laws at the University of Insubria (Como-Varese) and is also a member of the Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (GSRL-CNRS/École Pratique des Hautes Études-Sorbonne) and of Centre Prisme Politique, Religion, Institutions et Sociétés : Mutations Européennes of Strasbourg. He is the coordinator of the Inter-University project 'New Religious Presences' (www.fidr.it
’This book poses a substantial challenge to those who would limit religious freedom in Europe by banning Muslim women's full-face covering, commonly called burqa. The authors place the legal issues in a broader political, social and cultural context. In so doing, they expose the questionable grounds for banning the burqa in France and Belgium and of proposals elsewhere.’ Jørgen S. Nielsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark ’This volume is a milestone of legal and sociological research regarding one of the most heated European debates on religion in public space. It follows a most welcome and urgently needed pragmatic approach in accordance with European guarantees of human rights - a benchmark for future reflections.’ Mathias Rohe, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany ’...this book is a useful reference to the regulation of the burqa in Europe, including contributions by scholars who are knowledgeable about the situation in the countries about which they write.’ Journal of Contemporary Religion '... this book will appeal to scholars with an interest in Islam and human rights. Its thorough legal discussion of this controversy in Europe enables the reader to gain a wider perspective than would be afforded by a monograph about a specific national context. On the other hand, it could also be effectively used as a reference text by sociologists hoping to situate their own case-study analyses within a legal framework.' American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences