Islamic Dress in Human Rights Jurisprudence: A Critique of Current Trends

This article highlights some of the discursive implicationsof framing the question of Islamic dress as one of religiousrights. It is argued that the very construction of hijab issuesas those of ‘religious identity’, sustained by theuse of Article 9 of the ECHR as the primary legal basis fortheir resolution, has shaped a number of counterproductive trends.These are: avoiding difficult questions through a judicial techniqueof deference to local knowledge; using a language of choiceto produce an obscure and unsatisfactory account of Muslim women'sagency; false dichotomising of culture and gender; and producingan ever more docile and exposed subject through the subtle mechanismsof public scrutiny and moralising. Each trend is consideredin turn. The article's arguments draw on the critical thoughtof Wendy Brown and post-colonial feminism.