Public debates surrounding restrictions on face-covering garments such as the niqab in European public spaces and schools are often framed through the lens of political ideology, secularism, religion, or national identity. Still, politics is more than abstract doctrine or ideology; it is also a way of organizing human bodies and minds. 

Beneath the political debate lies a psychological question: What happens between us when we can see each other’s faces—and what changes when we cannot? 

To explore this question, I want to look beyond politics to the intersection of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and trauma.

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