Forced to be free : the limits of European tolerance
First published online: July 2020 ; Under which circumstances is it legitimate to force people to be free? Focusing on recent cases in Europe—handshaking, gender-mixed swimming lessons, and burkini bans—the Article exposes two types of moral hypocrisy in the European approach to this question. First, there is an increasing appeal to the notion of "forcing people to be free" in Europe; this is often justified based on conformity with the "general will" and the avoidance of self-imposed "harm." The Article shows how the concepts of the general will and harm are employed to legitimize the submission of the minority to the majority culture. Second, the Article indicates the double standard of European policies. While religious symbols and ways of life of the majority are first culturalized and then universalized, symbols and ways of life of the minority, even when seen as cultural, are often religionized and politicized. This legal fa¸cade enables the majority group to frame social reality as a direct conflict between universal morality and religious fundamentalism. ; Harvard Human Rights Journal, whose comprehensive suggestions tremendously improved the Article. The study is supported by the European Research Council Starting Grant (# 716350).