State Fashion Police: an essay about dressing, religion and authoritarianism in three democratic rule of law states

Abstract

This article aims at deepening the studies on the act of dressing as a projection of individual and religious freedom through the historical, social, political and judicial analysis of three democratic rule-of-law states, which in recent years have been at the center of this debate, namely Turkey, France and Germany. It is a study inspired by the reflections on post-secularism (Habermas), multiculturalism (Will Kymlicka) and the idea of justice as recognition (Nancy Fraser). The research process that grounded this work, in turn, was built on the methodological lines proposed by the established authors of Comparative Constitutional Law, Ran Hirschl and Vicki C. Jackson, that is to say, the need to combine the analysis of the foreign legal framework with the historical and social context that underlies it. In fact, we sought to expand the sources of research beyond those traditionally used in the area of Law - laws, jurisprudence and doctrine - including books and articles in the fields of fashion, sociology, anthropology and history. Furthermore, in the light of one of the major and recognized challenges of comparative constitutional law - foreign languages -, the research sought international news sources capable of reporting recent events in the history of those countries. In this sense, the use of online news posted by newspapers and periodicals served very well for the purpose of this study by identifying the main historical events of the countries we studied, especially recent ones. As a general objective, we intended to demonstrate how the analysis of legal framework should be carried out in conjunction with the historical and social complex in which it is inserted. Moreover, the research did not intend to seek specific historical periods, but rather use as a starting point the moments of genesis of the countries we studied responsible for shaping their profile of these days: (i) the emergence of Turkey as a Nation State; (ii) the French Revolution; and (iii) the legitimation of Germany as a constitutional democracy back on its feet under the aegis of the Fundamental Law of Bonn after World War II. As a conclusion, it can be said that there is a historical tendency, which is perpetuated even among such so-called democratic rule-of-law states, to restrain human beings from individual and personal choices which are different from those usually accepted by the status quo. Dressing clothes, especially religious ones, is a resistance and a resilience exercise in defense of keeping a personal freedom space which is intended to be inaccessible to the States - one of the last bastions of human freedom. This work is part of the author’s research on an expanded thematic which is focused on the recognition of law as an integrated and inseparable part of history, of relations between children, families, society, school, religion and State, and above all, the legitimation of human freedom as an essential element of states that are built under the aegis of a constitutional democracy.