Faith in the Courthouse: Muslims, Law, and Political Belonging in Europe and Canada

Abstract:Increasing diversity is pressing states to re-negotiate the narratives of political membership and the meaning of nationhood. Who belongs, and how one belongs, has been a topic of heated contestation, including in Europe and North America. The following article looks at two cases–R v NS (Supreme Court of Canada) and SAS v France (European Court of Human Rights)–that come to different conclusions as to how far a Muslim woman with a face veil, or niqab, can be included in the public sphere. It is argued that any investigation into how people belong must be complex, multi-perspectival, and must expand traditional notions of civic participation in order to ensure freedom, facilitate religious manifestation, and foster diversity.