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NEW YORK, June 29, 2010—Jane Clark, a junior studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at The King’s College, published an article yesterday on National Review Online, a premiere internet source for conservative news and commentary.
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Clark recently returned from a research trip to Turkey and uses this experience to explore some of the history of the Turkish secular democratic project in her article. In particular, she looks at the current attempt to reverse the headscarf ban that has been in place for 70 years.
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Drawn in part from her conversations with Turks ranging from university students to high-ranking members of Parliament, she shows that this debate has lasting importance for the Turkish system. It is essentially a choice between American and French styles of liberalism. As she writes:
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“American secularism is religiously neutral. French secularism (laïcité) allows the government to control how civilians practice their religion . . . The question before the Turkish court system is much more than whether women can cover their heads. It is whether to follow the pattern of French liberalism or American liberalism.”
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To read the entire article, click here: http://article.nationalreview.com/437201/turkey-the-headscarf-and-secularism/jane-clark.
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For more information about The
King's College please contact: |
| Warren Smith |
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