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Bavarian crucifixes and French headscarves: Religious Signs and the Postmodern European State

University of Chicago, USA

This article argues that two very different controversies of the 1990s-one over Islamic headscarves in the French schools, the other over Catholic crucifixes in Bavarian classrooms-are both symptoms of crises of national identity and sovereignty in contemporary European nation states. These crises have been provoked both by the globalization of economies and commodity culture as well as the challenge to national political autonomy in the context of the European Union. People who perceive themselves to represent both majority and minority cultures have responded to these crises by constructions and assertions of identities (religious and otherwise) and boundaries (between 'us' and 'them').

Key Words: crucifixes • European Union • headscarves • identity • Islam • modern state • 'the West'

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