Academic

Kahn on European Headscarf Laws

By Lawrence Solum

Robert A. Kahn (University of St. Thomas School of Law (Minnesota)) has posted Are Muslims the New Catholics? Europe's Headscarf Laws in Comparative Historical Perspective on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

European opponents of the headscarf often view themselves as engaged in a "struggle against totalitarianism." This paper explores an alternative framing: What if Muslims - rather than Nazis or Communists in training - are the more like nineteenth century Catholics, who were seen as a religious threat to European (and US) liberalism? To explore this idea, my paper looks at the headscarf debate through the lens of the German Kulturkampf (1871-1887) and nineteenth century US laws that banned public school teachers from wearing clerical garb. I reach two tentative conclusions. First, many of the claims made against European Muslims - especially about the "backward" nature of the religion - were also made against Catholics. Second, just as the Kulturkampf (and US clerical garb laws) failed to create a new "modern" Catholic, headscarf laws will not create Islamic moderates. However, the ultimate incorporation of Catholics in the years after 1945 suggest a more hopeful future - one that will come quicker if there is less legal repression.

Full post as published by Legal Theory Blog on September 10, 2008 (boomark / email).