Cloth on her Head, Constitution in Hand: Germany’s Headscarf Debates and the Cultural Politics of Difference
in German Politics and Society
As the current debates about the headscarf in Germany and France
demonstrate, “Islamic” veils and headscarves garner attention for
minority women in Europe to an unparalleled degree.2 For centuries,
Islamic veils and headscarves have served as powerful symbols in
Orientalist discourse, functioning as markers of the Oriental woman’s
supposed eroticism as well as convenient tropes for philosophers.3
Recent kidnappers’ demands in Iraq that France lift its headscarf ban
demonstrate the complex appropriations of Muslim women for fundamentalist
discourses as well.