Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction Alessandro Ferrari and Sabrina Pastorelli In praise of pragmatism Silvio Ferrari Burqa and Islam Roberta Aluffi Beck-Peccoz Burqa, niqab and women's rights Letizia Mancini A besieged right: religious freedom and the Italian war on the burqa and the niqab Alessandro Ferrari The burqa affair in France Anne Fornerod Legal and social issues concerning the wearing of the burqa and other head coverings in the United Kingdom Mark Hill Introducing a general burqa ban in the Netherlands Adriaan Overbeeke The burqa affair in Spain: legal perspectives Agustín Motilla The Belgian 'burqa ban': legal aspects of local and general prohibitions on covering and concealing one's face in Belgium Jogchum Vrielink, Saïla Ouald Chaib and Eva Brems A quest for open helmets: on the Danish burqa affair Lisbet Christoffersen Burqa in Germany: not really an issue: a short note Jörn Thielmann and Kathrin Vorholzer The anti-burqa movement in Western Europe Ralph Grillo and Prakash Shah The burqa in Europe: European institutions and the comparative-interdisciplinary approach Daniele Ferrari and Sabrina Pastorelli The European burqa debates: past, present and future/ Maleiha Malik The RELIGARE-Como declaration on the issue of the burqa