The alleged failure of multiculturalism in Europe is often associated to fears brought about by religious pluralization and fundamentalism. Controversies over religious issues corroborate this view and seem to indicate that a cultural battlefield following secular-religious fault-lines—with attending civilizational undertones—has taken shape on the continent. However, recent theoretical re-conceptualizations of the secular-religious dyad indicate that this war-like portrayal might be hasty and irresponsible. If “secular” and “religious” are socially constructed categories immersed in, and responsive to diverse contextual settings, neither the adversarial parts in this putative “culture war” nor the terms of the debate can be defined a priori and unconditionally. Building upon this non-essentialist view, this paper asks whether “othering” and inclusive discourses are differently constructed in controversies that concern majority and minority religions, and if so, how. To this end, a critical discourse analysis of Italian governmental texts related to crucifix and headscarf debates is conducted.
