Secularism, Religion and Diversity: The Contradictions of a European Identity

Many scholars have tried to define European identity by referring to belonging and diversity. Some scholars argued for a post-national European identity (Delanty 2014), transnational identities (Risse 2010) or super diversity (Vertovec 2007).  It is however not clear what should be the original historical attachment of this identity (Held 2014) or what the future holds for the European identity (Fligstein 2010).  I propose to look at the European identity debates from the axis of secularism and religion. In this paper, I will focus on the controversial public debates in European countries, specifically in Germany and France, which are allegedly secular, but in each the relation between state and religion is defined and practiced differently. In each of these countries, this relationship is currently undergoing a change through minority and immigrant claims for religious accommodation.  This change is best observed with Muslim and Jewish claims for practicing their religion. I will use examples from Germany’s ritual male circumcision debate, which both affected Jewish and Muslim communities, as well as the headscarf debates of Muslim women in Germany and in France. I argue that the European identity and diversity discourses carry contradictions; Muslims and Jews, in this context, are depicted as being strangers in Europe and belonging to Europe simultaneously.