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(2013) The seduction of the female body, Dordrecht, Springer.
The presence of religious symbols in public space poses a dilemma for many European countries, and in particular the wearing of the Islamic headscarf (the hijab) has provoked a huge social and political discussion. If France has one of the strictest regulations (a general legislative ban on any conspicuous religious sign in public schools since 2004), the United Kingdom is one of the most permissive countries. Between these two emblematic extremes, there is a full range of regulations and practices which varies greatly from state to state (Rorive, 2009: 267). The headscarf debate has been discussed at great length both by the media and scholars in anthropology, law, and women's studies. Therefore, I will only give a brief outline of the various standpoints in this conflict. I will focus in particular on the headscarf debate concerning pupils (Belgium) and not schoolteachers (Germany). Although I do not have the perfect answer to this problem, I believe that there is something missing in this debate.
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Full citation:
De Clercq, E. (2013). Contemporary society and its body politics, in The seduction of the female body, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 150-171.
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