Secularism, Gender and the State in the Middle East
Title | Secularism, Gender and the State in the Middle East PDF eBook |
Author | Nadje Al-Ali |
Publisher | Cambridge University Press |
Pages | 286 |
Release | 2000-07-27 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780521785044 |
A considerable literature has been devoted to the study of Islamic activism. By contrast, Nadje Al-Ali's book explores the anthropological and political significance of secular-oriented activism by focusing on the women's movement in Egypt. In so doing, it challenges stereotypical images of Arab women as passive victims and demonstrates how they fight for their rights and confront conservative forces. Al-Ali's book also takes issue with prevailing constructions of 'the West' and its perceived dichotomous relation to 'the East'. The argument is constructed around interviews which afford fascinating insights into the history of the women's movement in Egypt, notions about secularism and how Islamist constituencies have impacted on women's activism generally. The balance between the empirical and conceptual material is adeptly handled. The author frames her work in the context of current theoretical debates in Middle Eastern and post-colonial scholarship: while some of the ideas are complex, her lucid style means they are always comprehensible; the book will therefore appeal to students, as well as to scholars in the field.
Secularism, gender and the state in the Middle East
Title | Secularism, gender and the state in the Middle East PDF eBook |
Author | Nadje Sadig Al-Ali |
Publisher | |
Pages | 264 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | |
ISBN | 9780511329104 |
Islam and Secularism in the Middle East
Title | Islam and Secularism in the Middle East PDF eBook |
Author | Azzam Tamimi |
Publisher | NYU Press |
Pages | 228 |
Release | 2000-10 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780814782613 |
Western civilization tends to view secularism as a positive achievement. From this perspective, benefits of secularizing trends include the separation of church and state, the rule of law, and freedom from organized religion. In the Arab Middle East, however, Islamist intellectuals increasingly cite Western-inspired secularism as the source of the region's social dislocation and political instability. While secularism in the West led to the spread of democratic values, in the Muslim world it has been associated with dictatorship, the violation of human rights, and the abrogation of civil liberties. Islam and Secularism in the Middle East examines the origins and growth of the movement to abolish the secularizing reforms of the past century by creating a political order guided by Shariah law. Contributors explain the Islamic rejection of secularism as a failed Western Christian ideal and also discuss how secularization was pioneered by those who thought Muslims could only advance politically by emulating Western practices, including the renunciation of religion.
Sex and Secularism
Title | Sex and Secularism PDF eBook |
Author | Joan Wallach Scott |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Pages | 256 |
Release | 2019-11-12 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 0691197229 |
"Drawing on a wealth of scholarship by second-wave feminists and historians of religion, race, and colonialism, Scott shows that the gender equality invoked today as a fundamental and enduring principle was not originally associated with the term "secularism" when it first entered the lexicon in the nineteenth century. In fact, the inequality of the sexes was fundamental to the articulation of the separation of church and state that inaugurated Western modernity. Scott points out that Western nation-states imposed a new order of women's subordination, assigning them to a feminized familial sphere meant to complement the rational masculine realms of politics and economics. It was not until the question of Islam arose in the late twentieth century that gender equality became a primary feature of the discourse of secularism"-- Publisher's description
Gender and Violence in the Middle East
Title | Gender and Violence in the Middle East PDF eBook |
Author | Moha Ennaji |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 310 |
Release | 2011-04-22 |
Genre | Political Science |
ISBN | 1136824324 |
This book explores the relationship between Islamism, secularism and violence against women in the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on case studies from across the region, the authors examine the historical, cultural, religious, social, legal and political factors affecting this key issue. Chapters by established scholars from within and outside the region highlight: the interconnections of violence and various sources of power in the Middle East: the state, society, and the family conceptions of violence as family and social practice and dominant discourse the role of violence as pattern for social structuring in the nation state. By centring the chapters around these key areas, the volume provides an innovative theoretical and systematic research model for gender and violence in the Middle East and North Africa. Dealing with issues that are not easily accessible in the West, this book underlines the importance of understanding realities and problems relevant to Muslim and Arab societies and discusses possible ways of promoting reforms in the MENA region. As such it will be of great interest to students and scholars of gender studies, sociology, political science and criminal justice.
Religious Difference in a Secular Age
Title | Religious Difference in a Secular Age PDF eBook |
Author | Saba Mahmood |
Publisher | Princeton University Press |
Pages | 254 |
Release | 2015-11-03 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0691153280 |
How secular governance in the Middle East is making life worse—not better—for religious minorities The plight of religious minorities in the Middle East is often attributed to the failure of secularism to take root in the region. Religious Difference in a Secular Age challenges this assessment by examining four cornerstones of secularism—political and civil equality, minority rights, religious freedom, and the legal separation of private and public domains. Drawing on her extensive fieldwork in Egypt with Coptic Orthodox Christians and Bahais—religious minorities in a predominantly Muslim country—Saba Mahmood shows how modern secular governance has exacerbated religious tensions and inequalities rather than reduced them. Tracing the historical career of secular legal concepts in the colonial and postcolonial Middle East, she explores how contradictions at the very heart of political secularism have aggravated and amplified existing forms of Islamic hierarchy, bringing minority relations in Egypt to a new historical impasse. Through a close examination of Egyptian court cases and constitutional debates about minority rights, conflicts around family law, and controversies over freedom of expression, Mahmood invites us to reflect on the entwined histories of secularism in the Middle East and Europe. A provocative work of scholarship, Religious Difference in a Secular Age challenges us to rethink the promise and limits of the secular ideal of religious equality.
The Pedagogical State
Title | The Pedagogical State PDF eBook |
Author | Sam Kaplan |
Publisher | Stanford University Press |
Pages | 284 |
Release | 2006 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 9780804754330 |
This ethnographic study of a local school system in Turkey illuminates the dynamic interplay between politics, society, and education.