1. It is said that a person's freedom ends where it encroaches on another person's rights. Give your interpretation of this idea using examples. Do freedom and individual rights have a universal meaning or should they be defined differently in different countries?
2. Consider the headscarf controversy as a symbol of the broader debate on the status of women. Develop a cultural relativist approach and take sides in the events depicted in the case, accordingly. What can you say about the mandatory use of headscarves in Iran? About their mandatory removal in French public schools?
3.In the controversy over headscarves in French schools, many liberals and intellectuals have found themselves siding with extreme rightists and national groups denouncing the use of headscarves. What are the likely motivations of the first group and what probably incites the nationalist groups to oppose headscarves?
4.What may explain American society's greater tolerance for publicly expressed differences in religious or cultural behavior? Does the emphasis on multiculturalism reduce the possibility of minority groups to fully participate in mainstream society? How could it strengthen or weaken the national unity and sense of purpose of a country?
5. What factors affect the status of women in a society beside the cultural tradition? In what way the attitudes toward women in conservative Moslem countries may be reminiscent of those prevailing in America, at an earlier time?
6. Imagine that you are the manager of a French subsidiary of an American multinational company. How would you handle the problem of several of your French managers objecting to the Islamic dress code observed by immigrant women secretaries?