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Women in Islam
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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan, Transcend Art and Peace
Created: November 9, 2001
Latest Update: November 9, 2001
E-Mail jeannecurran@habermas.org
E-Mail takata@uwp.edu
E-Mail Olivier Urbain, Soka University

Women and Islamization

Review and Essay by Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata
Copyright: Jeanne Curran, Susan R. Takata, and Olivier Urbain: November 2001.
and Individual Authors. "Fair Use" encouraged.

This essay is based on Women and Islamization: Contemporary Dimensions of Discourse on Gender Relations Edited by Karin Ask and Marit Tjomsland. Berg Publishers, 1998. ISBN: 1-85973-255-0 (paper).

The essay will go up shortly. Meanwhile I wanted you to know of the text, in case you have time to get to it before I do. Our reactions to the position of women in Islam are largely based on our understanding of what it's like to be a woman in the US. In this respect we are behaving as Edward Said describes Jane Austen in Mansfield Park, accepting the dominant discourse of our own society without considering alternative imaginaries. Women and Islamization is about alternate imaginaries. If we are to understand the Other, we must explore these imaginaries.

Here is a blurb from the cover of Women and Islamization:

"The current Islamic revival is frequently associated with fundamentalism and radical politics. This reinforces Western perceptions of Islamic women as victims of a sexist and reactionary rule. What many outsiders fail to realize is that quite a number of Muslim women are ardently embracing their religion as a means through which they can express gender identity, power and creativity.

"In overturning ingrained notions of Mulim women's subjugation, this timely book situates Islam as a relligion underging reinterpretation and change - especially in relation to gender identities - rather than as a monolithic movement reacting against westernization and modernization. Through their political, educational and recreational activities, more and more Muslim women are setting agendas of their own and are actively redefining the role of women in Muslim society."

In connection with this re-interpretation we will consider the problem of dominant discourse within the belief system that constrains the creative alternatives open to the imaginary.

Discussion Topics

    At one point in the CSUDH forum on Afghanistan several of us felt the hackles on our necks rise when a young speaker said "The women of Afghanistan don't want to work. That is what American women want. The women of Afghanistan want the security and protection afforded in their homes and by the men of their family." or something to that effect, since this is from recall.

  1. Of what importance is Women and Islamization in responding to that feeling?

    Consider the problem of the constraint of the imaginary by the dominant discourse. Consider also the fact that jeanne bought the book at the Armond Hammer Museum Bookshop of UCLA, and that it was published in 1998 Oxford International Publishers. What does that tell you about it's probable place in dominant discourse in the US?

  2. When new gender and/or power roles are explored within the context of a specific belief system, such as that of Christianity or of Islam, how does that structural context affect the resulting creativity?

    Consider that dominant discourse within the belief system constrains the creative alternatives open to the imaginary.

  3. Can we ever be free of dominant discourse from some system or perspective? Do you think that helps explain Lyotard's position on the rejection of metanarratives?

    Consider that each metanarrative emanates from some perspective or belief system. What would the metanarrative look like if it emanated from a different perspective or belief system?