Law and Religion in a Detraditionalized Europe

This essay employs the concept of tradition to analyze law and religion cases from the European Court of Human Rights. It argues that Europe is undergoing a detraditionalization process that has altered how religion informs individual and collective meaning. Law, in turn, gives shape to this process. From the perspective of tradition, recent decisions involving public religious symbols, Islamic headscarves, and conscience claims are revealed to have participated in this transformative social process.