The Return of Political Theology: The Scarf Affair in Comparative Constitutional Perspective in France, Germany and Turkey

Abstract

The contemporary world is caught in the throes of religious and cultural conflicts which destabilize what seemed like accepted walls of separation between the state and religion, the public sphere of politics and law and the private realm of faith and belief. This article examines the destabilization of these dualisms by focusing on the constitutional and political controversies around the wearing of the “hijab,” religiously mandated clothing by Muslim women, in France, Germany and Turkey.