International Relations MPhil student, Herman Salton, has book published

Herman Salton, an MPhil student of International Relations at Oxford University, has had his book published. Veiled Threats? Islam, Headscarves and Religious Freedom in America and France, VDM Publishing, November 2008.

This book compares the French and American attitudes towards the Islamic veil. It argues that before the passage of the new French statute of 2004, the two systems adopted a similar approach that respected religious insignia. This is hardly surprising, the book suggests, for the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of `lacit`.

The book also tries to demolish some popular myths surrounding the `affaire des foulards`: that the French legal system is fiercely `secular`; that the American one is strongly `religious` ; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable veil emergency that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

This book has just arrived in the Social Science Library, please follow the link for quick reference. It is also available on Amazon. The book will be officially launched at the European Studies Centre, St Antony`s College, on 6 May 2009 at 5pm.