Proselytism and Ostentation: a Critical Discourse Analysis of the European Court of Human Rights’ Case Law on Religious Symbols

Abstract This article focuses on the European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) case law about religious symbols (N=27) from 2001 to 2018, exploring following questions: What discourses does ECtHR employ in cases symbols? How do ECtHR’s evolve time? The data is innovatively analyzed through critical discourse analysis and leads two findings: first, tends endorse ‘Christian secularism,’ considering Christian as compatible with secularism but not Muslim symbols; second, occasionally become more favorable applicants over time, evolution linear.