The Dutch Police and Religious Signs: An Analysis of the Headscarf Controversy in the Dutch Police Force

Over the past years, the admissibility of the Islamic headscarf in governmental organizations has received much attention in the field of religious studies. Many studies have focused on the argumentation used in the present discussions on this topic. However, the question of why the Islamic headscarf causes controversies in the first place is rarely addressed. This article is an attempt at filling up this gap by analyzing the headscarf controversy in the Dutch police force. The author argues that there are two dynamics underlying this controversy: on the one hand the Dutch liberal democratic o... Mehr ...