Intolerance unveiled? Burkini bans across France

Abstract

This paper qualifies the unlawfulness of the 2016 “burkini bans” in France from the perspective of toleration. It asserts that they reveal a tendency towards intolerance, evaluating the legal texts and political expressions of mayors against specific factors of early modern toleration – truth, common good, (outward) unity, public peace ad order, and trust. Although higher courts in France and Europe tend to defend individual freedom in this and adjacent types of legal questions, local tendencies towards intolerance which target the visibility of otherness in the open space are profoundly concerning. Such tendencies might translate into variations of restrictive regulations, which indicate need to guard against regression in lieu of (individual) religious freedom.