Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Cases
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Contributors
- An Introduction to the Interdisciplinary Considerations of the “Burqa Ban” Trend: Criminalizing the Trivial or Separating National and International Law?
- PART I Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Strategy of Prohibition
- PART II Legal Perspectives: Religious Clothing, Law, and a Veil-Wearer’s Experiential Account
- Part II Legal Perspectives: Human Rights Perspectives
- Part II Legal Perspectives: National Perspectives
- PART III Responses To Otherness: Gender, Race, And The Veil Factor
- Epilogue
- Index
- About the Editors
The Italian Uncertain Approach to the Burqa: A Testing Ground for the Unifying Role of “Laicità”
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2021
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- List of Cases
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Contributors
- An Introduction to the Interdisciplinary Considerations of the “Burqa Ban” Trend: Criminalizing the Trivial or Separating National and International Law?
- PART I Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Strategy of Prohibition
- PART II Legal Perspectives: Religious Clothing, Law, and a Veil-Wearer’s Experiential Account
- Part II Legal Perspectives: Human Rights Perspectives
- Part II Legal Perspectives: National Perspectives
- PART III Responses To Otherness: Gender, Race, And The Veil Factor
- Epilogue
- Index
- About the Editors
Summary
Abstract
While the Italian Constitution safeguards religious freedom, some Italian mayors and regional committees have attempted to adopt a burqa ban. This chapter considers this trend in light of the approach of the Italian courts. As it will show, there is a close connection between the Italian approach to the burqa and the concept of laicità, which requires the verification of whether the current solution to the burqa issue is truly consistent with the constitutional version of Italian laicità and its implications. In fact, the burqa question may be proof that the Italian concept of laicità is not a tool through which to achieve a clear and rigid distinction between (state) law and religion, but is instead evolving toward safeguarding religious freedom for all.
THE BURQA AND THE VALUE OF LEGAL UNITY
From a legal perspective, the’ burqa ban’ gives rise to an interesting question on the separation of national and international law.
In Italy, however, a further separation is in progress, namely between state law and regional law – in other words, between the national constitutional principles and the rules on religious freedom, which are interpreted differently by regional and local institutions and councils. As such, the burqa issue has invited debate on the value of legal unity, and, specifically, the goal of safeguarding religious freedom equally across the nation.
THE ITALIAN DEBATE AND THE DUALITY OF RELIGION
As part of the wider issue of religious symbols in the public sphere, the debate on the full-face veil (the niqāb and especially the burqa) in Italy was less lively and far-reaching than the discourse on the crucifix in state school classrooms.
However, along with the renewed fear of terrorist attacks, the increasingly multicultural and multifaith community that immigration has engendered has led to demands for greater security, public order, and the preservation of the national identity. Consequently, new issues on religious (and cultural) symbols in the public sphere have emerged in Italy, of which the burqa has now become one of the most widely debated and significant, constituting a more complex matter than it might at first appear.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Law, Cultural Studies and the 'Burqa Ban' TrendAn Interdisciplinary Handbook, pp. 283 - 300Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2021