A recent decision by the Italian Supreme Court (C. of Cassation, I, n. 24084/2017) has sparked a new strand of discussion on the relationship between liberty of religion, security, democracy, and cultural integration. The Court held an Indian national liable for criminal offence for carrying in his belt a Kirpan, the sacred cutter of Sikhism. Much criticism has attracted the reference in the decision to the “values of Western world” which an immigrant would be obliged to comply with. If multi-ethnicity is a necessity, the Court purports, this does not imply that the Constitutions welcomes 'cultural archipelagos'. This intimation of 'values' as a sort of overarching constitutional provisions is ambiguous to say the least. It invites, anyhow, a new reflection on what sort of constitutional 'principles' European societies share regarding citizenship, pointing either at one that ends up hinging on the opposition majority/minority or at a truly intercultural one

Our 2020 Annual Conference was scheduled to be held at the University of Wrocław in Poland on July 9-11, 2020.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICON·S Executive Committee has decided to postpone our 2020 Conference to 2021. Our next Annual Conference will take place from July 8-10, 2021, in Wrocław, Poland.
Procedural details regarding the organization of the 2021 Conference will follow in the months ahead.
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