Law, State and Religion in the New Europe

An exploration of the dilemmas raised by the return of religion to the public sphere.

Do the Islamic veil or the crucifix have a place in schools? Should the secular state make allowances for religion? Such questions are examples of important issues for scholars and politicians and law-makers, and to answer them this book goes back to the fundamentals of European law and politics.The return of religion to the public sphere raises various dilemmas. Rights and values, pluralism and identity, justice and efficacy, autonomy and tradition, and integration and toleration cannot always be balanced without the loss of something valuable. This volume of essays tackles such dilemmas from two perspectives. To begin, major contemporary theorists rethink the place of religion in the public sphere from republican, liberal and critical-theoretical viewpoints. Contributors then bring together theory and practice to better conceptualize and assess the latest developments in European jurisprudence with respect to religion.