ABSTRACT
Post-national theorists regard the 1989 foulards controversy in France and the Rushdie affair in the UK as evidence of this trend, as well as protests against the 2004 French ban on wearing conspicuous religious signs in schools because these campaigns mobilized their demands within a human rights framework. European women who are actively campaigning for the right to wear the hijab and litigating for their rights are confounding old and current representations of themselves as 'docile subjects' and becoming vocal public actors. Islamic organizations in Europe started to target their claims-making at national, regional and transnational public spheres. The late 1990s and the early 2000s saw a rise in cases of Muslims litigating for religious freedom through claims in national courts and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), mainly concerning national bans on wearing Islamic dress, especially the hijab, in schools and higher education institutions.
