Invisible Others: Muslims in European cities in the time of the burqa ban

Abstract

This paper analyzes specific local forms taken by “burqa bans” in some European cities and looks at the ways in which visibility is used in different contexts, and with different meanings. It establishes a parallel between women wearing the veil and LGBTQ activists, and the similar ways in which their presence in public blurs established limits between the personal and the political. While feminism has often been enlisted to defend the bans, I argue that an authentically feminist position should lead us to take claims made by Muslim women more seriously. I do this both by using published research about women wearing the full-face veil in France, and by quoting interviewees who wear a simple veil, and who all point to the negative effects of the law on their daily lives and mobilities.

Keywords: visibility, European cities, Muslim citizens, burqa, veil, feminism.