One of the most current issues occupying both public and academic discourse is sexuality and the related issues of sexual self-determination, gender order, and homophobia. Religion has a significant role to play in this discourse. This centrality of religion is evident not only in the question of moral concepts, but also in questions of the understanding of the body and gender. In this context, it should be emphasized that religion - or, more precisely, a particular interpretation of the religious - can have both a conflict-promoting and an emancipatory effect. If one wants to conceptualize a contemporary theological understanding, then it is necessary to receive medical, psychological as well as social and cultural science research. The anthology aims to thematize these debates and to broaden the view for the multi-layered processes of change taking place in the discourses.

This book sets out a rationale for the compatibility of Islam and Feminism and shows that Islamic Feminism is a diverse and valuable lens through which to analyse religion and gender. In addition, including scholarship written in Arabic, it promotes the decolonisation of knowledge production around Islam, gender and sexuality. Islamic feminism is a field of study that has been marginalised both in contemporary Islamic discourse and in feminist discourse. This study counters this marginalisation in two ways. Firstly, it enumerates the diversity of approaches used in Islamic feminist scholarship. Secondly, it foregrounds voices that are often neglected in discussions of Islam, gender and sexuality by highlighting and contrasting the work of two key scholars: Kecia Ali based in the USA and Olfa Youssef based in Tunisia. The book suggests that in addition to geo-political positioning, language, as a ‘prior-text’, also influences an individual’s personal interpretation of Islamic feminism. This comparison, therefore, enables broader issues to be dissected, such as the interrelationships between life experiences, strategies of resistance to patriarchal and other forms of oppression, and the production of knowledge. This is a unique study of Islamic Feminism that will be of great use to any scholar of Religion and Gender, Islamic Studies, Gender Studies and the Sociology of Religion.

The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality provides academics and students with a comprehensive and authoritative state-of-the-art review of current research in the area of sexuality and religion, broadly defined. This collection of expert essays offers an inter-disciplinary study of the important aspects of sexuality and religion, calling upon sociological, cultural, historical and theological contributions to an under-researched subject. The Companion focuses on the exploration of diverse religious faiths, spiritualities, and sexualities with contributions that embrace many contrasting approaches related to the contemporary context. By adopting a truly inter-disciplinary and multi-dimensional perspective, the Companion embraces the complexities of both sexuality and religion. Aimed primarily at a readership with specialist interest in both, The Ashgate Research Companion to Contemporary Religion and Sexuality offers an innovative and refreshing analysis of key theoretical and empirical issues in an increasingly relevant and expanding area of academic interest. The Companion comprises five main thematic sections, each with chapters ranging across a variety of crucial topics traversing various faith traditions. The principal themes are: epistemological and methodological issues; the significance of religious text; institutional religious settings; stability transformation and change; contesting hegemonic structures and discourses. Each section includes four chapters contributed by leading international experts in their respective fields and who are at the cutting-edge of current research. Collectively, they offer an inter-disciplinary and comprehensive survey of sexuality and religion.

One of the most current issues occupying both public and academic discourse is sexuality and the related issues of sexual self-determination, gender order, and homophobia. Religion has a significant role to play in this discourse. This centrality of religion is evident not only in the question of moral concepts, but also in questions of the understanding of the body and gender. In this context, it should be emphasized that religion - or, more precisely, a particular interpretation of the religious - can have both a conflict-promoting and an emancipatory effect. If one wants to conceptualize a contemporary theological understanding, then it is necessary to receive medical, psychological as well as social and cultural science research. The anthology aims to thematize these debates and to broaden the view for the multi-layered processes of change taking place in the discourses.

"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

This book explores the Bible’s ongoing relevance in contemporary discussions around rape culture and gender violence. Each chapter considers the ways that biblical texts and themes engage with various forms of gender violence, including the subjective, physical violence of rape, the symbolic violence of misogynistic and heteronormative discourses, and the structural violence of patriarchal power systems. The authors within this volume attempt to name (and shame) the multiple forms of gender violence present within the biblical traditions, contesting the erasure of this violence within both the biblical texts themselves and their interpretive traditions. They also consider the complex connections between biblical gender violence and the perpetuation and validation of rape culture in contemporary popular culture. This volume invites new and ongoing conversations about the Bible’s complicity in rape-supportive cultures and practices, challenging readers to read these texts in light of the global crisis of gender violence.

This new introduction to the sociology of gender and sexuality provides fresh insight into our rapidly changing attitudes towards sex and our understanding of masculine and feminine identities, relating the study of gender and sexuality to recent research and theory, and wider social concerns throughout the world.