Overview

"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."

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9780199367931

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Reviews

Hilal Elver ... is passionate about the issues, but writes without becoming emotional or overtly polemical. Her introduction is excellent, outlining the problems of the headscarf as they relate to secularism, human rights, racialization of Islam and Islamophobia, gender discrimination and the legal front. ... This book is thorough and comprehensive. The author excels is expressing clearly the multiple and compex issues arising from the headscarf controversy. * Mary Hossain, Journal of Islamic Studies *

Hilal Elver's insights into how judicial institutions in Europe have frequently acted 'on behalf of women' in order to 'protect' women from Islam decisively demonstrate how post-9/11 Islamophobia and strident secularism are depriving Muslim women of their citizenship rights and freedoms. The comparative aspect of her analysis regarding judicial decisions related to the headscarf in Turkey, France, Germany, the U.S., and the European Court of Human Rights make this work a critically important contribution to the growing literature on the hijab as a woman's right. --Diane Singerman, Associate Professor of Government, School of Public Affairs, American University This analysis of how the headscarf controversy illuminates the ways in which secular states treat Islam could not be more timely. The Arab Spring reopened the question of religion in predominately Muslim countries-a debate in which Turkey seeks a leading role. France has begun fining Muslim women for what they wear. American nativism has provoked controversies over mosque construction and Islamic law. Elver brings a profound understanding of Turkey, Islam, and domestic and international law to bear on these critically volatile issues. --Richard L. Abel, Connell Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA Rather than just another book on the subject, this is the first book to spell out what is at stake in the headscarf controversy, and to do so with exemplary clarity. It does not just defend a position; it educates the reader in a way that few other books on the subject do. ---Mahmood Mamdani, Executive Director, Makerere Institute of Social Research and Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia University In most Western countries, the headscarf question has been all but resolved in favor of Elver's position, with the debate now largely restricted to more extreme forms of traditional religious dress, such as the burqa and the niqab, which conceal nearly the entire body. The book provides an insightful perspective on this trend, grounded more in constitutional law than empirical sociology or political history. --Foreign Affairs

Hilal Elver's insights into how judicial institutions in Europe have frequently acted 'on behalf of women' in order to 'protect' women from Islam decisively demonstrate how post-9/11 Islamophobia and strident secularism are depriving Muslim women of their citizenship rights and freedoms. The comparative aspect of her analysis regarding judicial decisions related to the headscarf in Turkey, France, Germany, the U.S., and the European Court of Human Rights make this work a critically important contribution to the growing literature on the hijab as a woman's right. --Diane Singerman, Associate Professor of Government, School of Public Affairs, American University This analysis of how the headscarf controversy illuminates the ways in which secular states treat Islam could not be more timely. The Arab Spring reopened the question of religion in predominately Muslim countries-a debate in which Turkey seeks a leading role. France has begun fining Muslim women for what they wear. American nativism has provoked controversies over mosque construction and Islamic law. Elver brings a profound understanding of Turkey, Islam, and domestic and international law to bear on these critically volatile issues. --Richard L. Abel, Connell Professor of Law Emeritus, UCLA Rather than just another book on the subject, this is the first book to spell out what is at stake in the headscarf controversy, and to do so with exemplary clarity. It does not just defend a position; it educates the reader in a way that few other books on the subject do. ---Mahmood Mamdani, Executive Director, Makerere Institute of Social Research and Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia University In most Western countries, the headscarf question has been all but resolved in favor of Elver's position, with the debate now largely restricted to more extreme forms of traditional religious dress, such as the burqa and the niqab, which conceal nearly the

Author Information

Hilal Elver is a research professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, where she has been Distinguished Visiting Professor since January, 2002. Previously she was the UNEP Chair on Environmental Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies in Malta, and taught at the University of Ankara, Faculty of Law, where she received her law degree and Ph.D. She also has an SJD from UCLA Law School. Her publications focus on international environmental law and human rights, specifically in relation to women's rights.

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