Explaining Variation in European Veil Bans

• In Event: Religion and the Study of Political Institutions

Abstract

In the last decade there has been a flurry of state-sponsored veil bans across Europe that defy simple explanation. Countries ranging from France, with a sizable Muslim population and a history of Islamist terrorism, to Latvia, which lacks both, have criminalized wearing the burqa in public. Further, these veil bans do not correspond with traditional patterns of European state repression of religion. This paper seeks to answer, first, what explains variation in bans on the veil in Europe? Second, what about the pattern of veil bans makes it different from the patterns of other forms of religious repression? Using a unique dataset compiled largely from the Open Foundations 2018 report on EU veiling bans, we establish a general pattern of veil bans in Europe, disaggregated by general bans, location-specific bans, and local bans. We then situate the bans within the context of religious repression in Europe. We use a combination of state-level socio-economic and political explanatory variables as well as individual-level data from the European Social Survey to test general theories about the role church-state relationships and individual-level religiosity play in the veil ban phenomenon. Finally, we use Switzerland as a case study for a subnational exploration of variations in religious repression by comparing the Swiss minaret ban to its veil ban at the local level.

Authors

• Emma Rosenberg, University of Notre Dame

• Michael Thomas Hoffman, University of Notre Dame