eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
This book examines the issues and tensions aroused by wearing religious dress by considering questions of language, meaning and symbolism.
Hilal Elver offers an in-depth study of the escalating controversy over the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves. Examining legal and political debates in Turkey, several European countries including France and Germany, and the United States, Elver shows the troubling exclusion of pious Muslim women from the public sphere in the name of secularism, democracy, liberalism, and women's rights. After evaluating political actions and court decisions from the national level of individual governments to the international sphere of the European Court of Human Rights, Elver concludes that judges and legislators are increasingly influenced by social pressures concerning immigration and multiculturalism, and by issues such as Islamophobia, the "war on terror," and security concerns. She shows how these influences have resulted in a failure on the part of many Western governments to recognize and protect essential individual freedoms. Employing a critical legal theory perspective to the headscarf controversy, Elver argues that law can be used to change underlying social conditions shaping the role of religion, and also the position of women in modern society. The Headscarf Controversy demonstrates how changes in law across nations can be used to restore state commitments to human rights.
Islam, Europe and Emerging Legal Issues brings together vital analysis of the challenges that Europe poses for an expanding Islam and that Islam poses for Europe, within their ever-evolving religious, legal, and social environments. This book gathers some of the best thinking on Islam and the law affecting current and contested issues that can no longer be ignored, particularly as they have found their way before the European Court of Human Rights. Contributors include leading authorities who are working at the heart of this generation's law and religion questions in Europe and across the world. This book outlines implications for all those who look to Europe-from both within and without-for models of human rights implementation and multi-cultural accommodation.
Hilal Elver offers an in-depth study of the escalating controversy over the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves. Examining legal and political debates in Turkey, several European countries including France and Germany, and the United States, Elver shows the troubling exclusion of pious Muslim women from the public sphere in the name of secularism, democracy, liberalism, and women's rights. After evaluating political actions and court decisions from the national level of individual governments to the international sphere of the European Court of Human Rights, Elver concludes that judges and legislators are increasingly influenced by social pressures concerning immigration and multiculturalism, and by issues such as Islamophobia, the "war on terror," and security concerns. She shows how these influences have resulted in a failure on the part of many Western governments to recognize and protect essential individual freedoms. Employing a critical legal theory perspective to the headscarf controversy, Elver argues that law can be used to change underlying social conditions shaping the role of religion, and also the position of women in modern society. The Headscarf Controversy demonstrates how changes in law across nations can be used to restore state commitments to human rights.
This volume focuses on Muslims in Finland, Greece, Ireland and Portugal. It highlights how Muslim experiences can be understood in relation to country’s particular historical routes, political economies, and post-colonial legacies. It also reveals that country particularities shaping European Muslim experiences cannot be understood independently of global dynamics.
Hilal Elver offers an in-depth study of the escalating controversy over the right of Muslim women to wear headscarves. Examining legal and political debates in Turkey, several European countries including France and Germany, and the United States, Elver shows the troubling exclusion of pious Muslim women from the public sphere.
This book analyzes the implication of secular/liberal values in Western and human rights law and its impact on Muslim women. It offers an innovative reading of the tension between the religious and secular spheres. The author does not view the two as binary opposites. Rather, she believes they are twin categories that define specific forms of lives as well as a specific notion of womanhood. This divergence from the usual dichotomy opens the doors for a reinterpretation of secularism in contemporary Europe. This method also helps readers to view the study of religion vs. secularism in a new light. It allows for a better understanding of the challenges that contemporary Europe now faces regarding the accommodation of different religious identities. For instance, one entire section of the book concerns the practice of veiling and explores the contentious headscarf debate. It features case studies from Germany, France, and the UK. In addition, the analysis combines a wide range of disciplines and employs an integrated, comparative, and inter-disciplinary approach. The author successfully brings together arguments from different fields with a comparative legal and political analysis of Western and Islamic law and politics. This innovative study appeals to students and researchers while offering an important contribution to the debate over the role of religion in contemporary secular Europe and its impact on women’s rights and gender equality.
This book examines matters of religious freedom in Europe, considers the work of the European Court of Human Rights in this area, explores issues of multiculturalism and secularism in France, of women in Islam, and of Muslims in the West. The work presents legal analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, focusing on concepts such as laïcité, submission, equality and the role of the state in public education, amongst others. Through this book, the reader can visit inside a French public school located in a low-income neighborhood just south of Paris and learn about the complex dynamics that led up to the passing of the 2004 law banning Muslim headscarves. The chapters bring to light the actors and cultures within the school that set the stage for the passing of the law and the political philosophy that supports it. School culture and philosophy are compared and contrasted to the thoughts and opinions of the teachers, administrators and students to gage how religious freedom and identity are understood. The book goes on to explore the issue of religious freedom at the European Court of Human Rights. The author argues that the right to religious freedom has been too narrowly understood and is being fenced in by static visions of Islam. This jeopardizes the idea of religious freedom more broadly. By becoming entangled with regional and domestic politics, the Court is neglecting important nuances and is jeopardizing secularism, pluralism and democracy. This is a highly readable and accessible book that will appeal to students and scholars of law, anthropology, religious studies and philosophy of religion. 内容紹介 この本はヨーロッパにおける宗教の自由に関する問題を考察したもので、欧州人権裁 判所のそれに関する取り組みと、フランスにおける多文化主義、世俗主義、イスラム女 性、西洋におけるイスラム教の問題について調査している。その成果として、法的分析 、例えば政教分離などの概念に注目した民俗学的実地調査、提案、とりわけ公教育にお ける国家の公平性と役割に注目し、それを示している。この本を通して、読者はフラン スのパリ南部の低所得地域にある公立学校の内部事情を知ることができる。そしてイス ラム教徒が頭にスカーフをかぶることを禁じた2004年制定の法律が可決されるに至った 複雑な作用について学ぶことができる。各章では、法案成立のお膳立てをしてきた学校 関係者とその文化、そしてそれを支えた政治哲学について明らかにしている。宗教の自 由と独自性が人々にどのくらい理解されているかを計るために、学校文化と哲学を、教 員や管理職、学生の考えや意見と比較対比している。この本ではさらに欧州人権裁判所 における宗教の自由に関する問題を探求している。宗教の自由に関する権利は十分に理 解されておらず、人々はイスラム教についての固定的な見方から抜け出せないため、そ れが宗教の自由という考えを露骨に危険にさらしている。そして、宗教と国内政治のも つれによって、裁判所は微妙だが重要な差違を軽視し、それにより、世俗主義、多元主 義、民主主義が危険にさらされていると著者は述べている。この本は大変読みやすくわ かりやすいため、法律、人類学、宗教学、宗教哲学を学ぶ学生や研究者にお勧めしたい 本である。
Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: 10/12, University of Copenhagen (iCourts - the Danish National Research Foundation's Centre of Excellence for International Courts), language: English, abstract: The rise of religious, cultural and ethnic diversity in Europe has led to widespread political and social debates concerning integration, migration and freedom of religion. This phenomenon is especially visible in recent debates and subsequent legal developments regarding the ban of wearing the Islamic face-veil in public. The veil has become an object of discussion about gender equality, religion in the public sphere, immigration, integration and related issues. Laws in several countries banning the veil have been subject to heated debates. This paper aims to critically examine selected laws in the light of International Human Rights Law.
A classic anthology of writings on the legal status and lived experiences of women of color Now in its second edition, the acclaimed anthology Critical Race Feminism presents over 40 readings on the legal status of women of color by leading authors and scholars such as Anita Hill, Lani Guinier, Kathleen Neal Cleaver, and Angela Harris. The collection gives voice to Black, Latina, Asian, Native American, and Arab women, and explores both straight and queer perspectives. Both a forceful statement and a platform for change, the anthology addresses an ambitious range of subjects, from life in the workplace and motherhood to sexual harassment, domestic violence, and other criminal justice issues. Extending beyond national borders, the volume tackles global issues such as the rights of Muslim women, immigration, multiculturalism, and global capitalism. Revealing how the historical experiences and contemporary realities of women of color are profoundly influenced by a legacy of racism and sexism that is neither linear nor logical, Critical Race Feminism serves up a panoramic perspective, illustrating how women of color can find strength in the face of oppression.
