ID: |
HARP-406 |
Title: |
Religious Expression in Public Schools: kirpans in Canada, hijab in France |
Source: |
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 1997, 20, 3, July, 545-561 |
Parties: |
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Dispute Resolution Organ: |
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Year: |
1997 |
Pages: |
0 |
Author(s): |
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Keywords: |
Canada, economic, social, and cultural rights, human rights, language, Quebec, religion, civil and political rights, educational rights, public schools, education, minority rights, assembly and association |
Abstract: |
Examines how two separate challenges involving sartorial religious expressions in public schools unfolded & were resolved: (1) the wearing of the kirpan (ceremonial dagger) by Sikh students in Canada, & (2) the wearing of Islamic hijab (headscarves) by schoolgirls in France. Why was a seemingly dangerous weapon ultimately condoned in Canada with relatively little controversy in 1990, whereas innocuous headscarves engendered much furor in France in 1989 & again in 1994? It is argued that the answer to this puzzle lies in political culture, more specifically in the national models governing the reception of immigrants & in the existence of institutions & regimes to process human rights claims. National context also influenced the extent to which the religious minorities themselves were able to argue their cases. This argument is supported by the management of a hijab affair in Montreal in 1994/95, revealing that Quebec’s political culture falls between those of English Canada & France. |
Secured: |
False |
Download Article: |
Available here |
Keywords: assembly and association, Canada, civil and political rights, cultural rights, economic, education, educational rights, human rights, language, minority rights, public schools, Quebec, religion, social