Author Meets Readers panel at Pressed.
Carleton Law and Legal Studies Professor Melanie Adrian hosted a thoughtful and informative discussion on the restrictions faced by Muslim women during a recent Author Meets Readers, which was held at Pressed, a café on Gladstone Street.
Professor Adrian was joined onstage by Law and Legal Studies Professor Vincent Kazmierski and Mohammed Saleem, the principal of the Abraar School, an Islamic school in Ottawa.
Professor Adrian’s book, Religious Freedom at Risk: The EU, French Schools and Why the Veil was Banned draws on Adrian’s experience living on the grounds of a Muslim school in France from 2005 to 2006. During that time, she was struck by the French ideal of citizenship as something secular and “unencumbered”.
“The French believe in expansive liberties in the private sphere, but in the public sphere, there is an expectation of integration and belonging,” said Adrian. “By banning face coverings, France’s 2011 law prevents these women from taking the bus, going to the hospital, and going to school if they are wearing the veil.”
Mohammed Saleem said when one religion is restricted, it has an impact on all religious freedom. He is often reminded that we live in a society in Canada where he can practice his faith.
Professor Kazmierski drew parallels between the French law and proposed legislation to ban ostentatious religious symbols in Quebec. “These are issues confronting us in Canada that are not going away,” said Kazmierski. “I love this book because it takes the law seriously but also tries to understand what’s happening in the society.”
Professor Melanie Adrian’s book, Religious Freedom at Risk: The EU, French Schools and Why the Veil was Banned is published by Springer.
The next Author Meets Readers will feature the book, The Legitimacy of Regional Integration in Europe and the Americas, edited by Achim Hurrelmann, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (EURUS) at Carleton University.
The event will be held on January 21. You can find more information here.
Monday, December 21, 2015 in Author Meets Readers, News
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