School strike against headscarf ban? Solidarity with a blind spot

Austria’s SPÖ Youth, the Red Falcons, the Revolutionary Communist Party, the International Communist Youth Organization Revolution and the initiative “Schule brennt” plan to stay away from school on Wednesday. They will instead take to the streets in support of children wearing headscarves.

The move prompts a pointed question: is this solidarity, or solidarity with a blind spot? The article argues that the groups are fighting for the child headscarf in Austria while failing to confront what religious rules can mean for girls’ freedom.

There was once a socialist international, the article recalls. The term may sound dated today, but it represented a larger idea: solidarity should not stop at national borders, and freedom, equality and emancipation should apply universally.

That principle, the article says, requires people to look closely at restrictions wherever they occur, rather than paying attention only when oppression is far away. Instead of accepting religious commandments uncritically, it argues, the groups should wish for equal freedoms for girls worldwide.