Gender and citizenship: Governing Muslim body covering in Europe

Abstract

Veiling practices, that is the covering of women’s hair, face or body, have been heavily discussed all over Europe since the 2000s. Starting with the puzzling question of why the fierce disputes over a "piece of cloth" emerged and developed, the chapter argues that a new concept of citizenship, of political, social and cultural rights is constructed, negotiated and promoted in European countries through headscarf debates. Hence, public debates over Muslim women’s head and body covering are part of a new form of a gendered "politics of belonging". The chapter demonstrates that citizenship and belonging are connected to sexual difference and to gender at the intersection of religion and nationality. The old gender exclusive political paradigm has been reformulated and shifted to covered Muslim women.