Debating the Law, Creating Gender : Sharia and Lawmaking in Palestine, 2012-2018 /
:
In Palestine, family law is a controversial topic publicly debated by representatives of the state, Sharia establishment, and civil society. Yet to date no such law exists. This book endeavors to determine why by focusing on the conceptualization of gender and analyzing "law in the making" and the shifts in debates (2012-2018). In 2012, a ruling on khulʿ -divorce was issued by the Sharia Court and was well received by civil society, but when the debate shifted in 2018 to how to "harmonize" international law with Islamic standards, the process came to a standstill. These developments and the various power relations cannot be properly understood without taking into consideration the terminology used and redefined in these debates.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004442313
9789004442306
Sufi Women of South Asia : Veiled Friends of God /
:
In Sufi Women of South Asia. Veiled Friends of God , the first biographical compendium of hundred and forty-one women, from the eleventh to the twentieth century, Tahera Aftab fills a serious gap in the existing scholarship regarding the historical presence of women in Islam and brings women to the centre of the expanding literature on Sufism. The book's translated excerpts from the original Farsi and Urdu sources that were never put together create a much-needed English-language source base on Sufism and Muslim women. The book questions the spurious religious and cultural traditions that patronise gender inequalities in Muslim societies and convincingly proves that these pious women were exemplars of Islamic piety who as true spiritual masters avoided its public display.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004467187
9789004467170
Performing Islam : gender and ritual in Iran /
:
Performing Islam takes as its main focus the rich array of ceremonial activities that shape and inform the lives of circles of women in south Tehran. Based on anthropological fieldwork, the book describes and analyses rituals that mark religious anniversaries and life course events in Iran today. Arguing that the ritual performances are powerful forums where ideas develop, and where rules, symbols and discourses are contested, this book discusses the values and beliefs underpinning gender constructions in a rapidly changing and complex society. The ambiguous metaphorical language of the rituals is examined, revealing how gender ideologies are projected and renewed, but also challenged, destabilized and ridiculed. Thus the rituals provide possibilities for self-expression, innovation and incremental change. This study goes beyond questions of meaning and culture to interrogate the dynamics of gender performance as products of power and politics.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-280) and indexes. :
9789047410546 :
1570-7628 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Women, Gender and Language in Morocco /
:
This volume deals with the complex but poorly understood relationship between women, gender, and language in Morocco, a Muslim, multilingual, multicultural, and developing country. The hypothesis on which the book is based is that an understanding of gender perception and women's agency can be achieved only by taking into account the structure of power in a specific culture and that language is an important component of this power. In Moroccan culture, history, geography, Islam, orality, multilingualism, social organization, economic status, and political system constitute the superstructures of power within which factors such as social differences, contextual differences, and identity differences interact in the daily linguistic performances of gender. Moroccan women are far from constituting a homogeneous group, consequently the choices available to them vary in nature and empowering capacity, thus 'widening' the spectrum of gender beyond cultural limits.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047404378
9789004128538
Dreaming of Change: Young Middle-Class Women and Social Transformation in Jordan /
:
This anthropological monograph focuses on the everyday experiences of young, highly educated women in contemporary Jordan. It carefully analyses their powerful contributions to social change as well as the strategies they employ in dealing with the problems they generally face. In their struggle to find recognition, religion (Islam and Christianity) often plays a major part and helps them to empower themselves, which is also reflected in this account. The study discusses family relationships, social networks, gender constructions, religiousness, and women's roles in various social spheres. It sheds light on how these young women actively influence transformations in their society and re-negotiate their own and other people's social position, and how they, in turn, are highly influenced (and often restricted) by the socio-cultural environment in their efforts towards change.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047416067
9789004146341
Women, water and memory : recasting lives in Palestine /
:
This book tells a different story about water. Against the backdrop of the end of the Ottoman Empire to the Palestinian uprisings, old Palestinian women recount life before and after piped water. While talking about fetching and managing household water, women also talked about being women. Women, Water and Memory speaks of many different lives. We hear stories about women's own strength and beauty, and about the woman who married a man whose ugly face made her sick. While one woman married the man "she cared for", another was relieved that her husband died when she was too old to be forced to remarry. We learn about the joy they feel each time they dance at a wedding, the sheer satisfaction of lighting a cigarette, the loyalty and shared despair towards families with members in prison, and about the tears of sorrow at each death and the delight at each birth.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [163]-167) and index. :
9789047442561 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Ottoman women in public space /
:
Using a wealth of primary sources and covering the entire Ottoman period, Ottoman Women in Public Space challenges the traditional view that sees Ottoman women as a largely silent element of society, restricted to the home and not seen beyond the walls of the house or the public bath. Instead, taking women in a variety of roles, as economic and political actors, prostitutes, flirts and slaves, the book argues that women were active participants in the public space, visible, present and an essential element in the everyday, public life of the empire. Ottoman Women in Public Space thus offers a vibrant and dynamic understanding of Ottoman history. Contributors are: Edith Gülçin Ambros, Ebru Boyar, Palmira Brummett, Kate Fleet and Svetla Ianeva.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004316621 :
1570-7628 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Moroccan Female Religious Agents : Old Practices and New Perspectives /
:
In Moroccan Female Religious Agents: Old Practices and New Perspectives , Ouguir studies Moroccan female religious agents in particular historical women saints and Sufis, the way they constructed powerful saintly personalities that challenged the dominant conventional norms, and the way they are received by venerators and feminist Islamist activists of modern Morocco. Through hagiographic and oral narratives, Ouguir examines the techniques religious women followed to achieve ethical self-formation and strong religious personalities that promoted them to leadership. She also examined the venerators', murshidᾱt and Islamist feminists' reception of women saints in their discourses. Ouguir states convincingly that Moroccan religious women agents in both Morocco's past and present are to be highlighted for broader discourses on Muslim women and feminism.
:
1 online resource. :
9789004429895
9789004429888
Women judges in the Muslim world : a comparative study of discourse and practice /
:
Women Judges in the Muslim World: A Comparative Study of Discourse and Practice fills a gap in academic scholarship by examining public debates and judicial practices surrounding the performance of women as judges in eight Muslim-majority countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco). Gender, class, and ethnic biases are inscribed in laws, particularly in the domain of shariʿa -derived family law. Editors Nadia Sonneveld and Monika Lindbekk have carefully woven together the extensive fieldwork and expertise of each author. The result is a rich tapestry that brings out the various effects of women judges in the management of justice. In contrast to early scholarship, they convincingly prove that 'the woman judge' does not exist. Contributors are: Monique C. Cardinal, Jessica Carlisle, Monika Lindbekk, Rubya Mehdi, Valentine M. Moghadam, Najibah Mohd Zin, Euis Nurlaelawati, Arskal Salim, Nadia Sonneveld, Ulrike Schultz and Maaike Voorhoeve.
:
1 online resource (xxii, 324 pages) : illustrations. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004342200 :
1570-7628 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Women and Gender in a Lebanese Village : Generations of Change /
:
In Women and Gender in a Lebanese Village: Generations of Change , Nancy W. Jabbra addresses change in women's and gender roles in a village in Lebanon's Bekaa valley. Employing ethnographic methods and secondary sources, she explores that change from the post-World War II period to the early twenty-first century. The topics of geography and power, family and kinship, education and work, community solidarity, ritual and symbolism, and consideration of the future comprise the substantive part of her monograph. This work is a much-needed comprehensive treatment of women in a contemporary Arab Christian rural community.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004459618
9789004459601
Gender and Islam in Southeast Asia : women's rights movements, religious resurgence and local traditions /
:
The volume is the first comprehensive compilation of texts on gender constructions, normative gender orders and their religious legitimizations, as well as current gender policies in Islamic Southeast Asia, which besides the Islamic core countries of Malaysia and Indonesia also comprises southern Thailand and Mindanao (the Philippines). The authors trace the impact of national development programmes, modernization, globalization, and political conflicts on the local and national gender regimes in the twentieth century, and elaborate on the consequences of the revitalization of a conservative type of Islam. The book, thus, elucidates the boundary lines of cultural and political processes of negotiation related to state, society, and community. It employs a broad analytical framework, offers rich empirical data and gives new insights into current debates on gender and Islam. Contributors include Nelly van Doorn-Harder, Farish A. Noor, Siti Musdah Mulia, Amporn Marddent, Maila Stivens, Alexander Horstmann, Amina Rasul-Bernardo, Monika Arnez, Susanne Schröter, Nurul Ilmi Idrus, Vivienne S.M. Angeles and Birte Brecht-Drouart.
:
1 online resource (x, 335 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004242920 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Nawab Faizunnesa's Rupjalal /
:
Nawab Faizunnesa (1834-1903) challenged established notions regarding women's position in a Muslim society in colonial Bengal. Her RupJalal was the first literary text written by a Bengali Muslim woman. The translated text is placed in the historical context of colonialism and the nationalist movement of colonial Bengal. An analysis of the text is also included in order to invite readers to explore the woman question in context of Islam and/in imperial society. With the translated text, along with a critical overview and textual analysis, this book traces in Faizunnesa's life and works the emergence of a self-conscious female voice by addressing the issues of social, political, and economic marginality of women in an Islamic, nationalist, and imperialist culture of colonial Bengal.
:
Translated from the Bengali. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-220) and index. :
9789047442264 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Mothers and daughters in Arab women's literature the family frontier /
:
This study explores the mother-daughter relationship as the most fundamental and most intimate female relationship and as the cornerstone of Arab family life. Drawing on autobiographical and semifictional works by women writers from across the Arab world, the study offers a first-hand account of how Arab women view and experience this primary bond. The author uses both early and contemporary writings of Arab women to illuminate the traditional and evolving nature of mother-daughter relationships in Arab families and how these family dynamics reflect and influence modern Arab life. The compelling narratives demystify the institutions of family and motherhood and show the potential of mothers and daughters to transform the patriarchal family and thus the fabric of Arab society. A groundbreaking work that fills a void in cross-cultural studies, it is of interest to scholars and students of Middle Eastern studies, women's studies, and family studies.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004191099 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The essential Rokeya : selected works of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932) /
:
In The Essential Rokeya , Mohammad A. Quayum brings together, for the first time, some of the best work by one of South Asia's earliest and most heroic feminist writers and activists, who was also a leading figure of the Bengal Renaissance in the nineteenth and early twentieth century - Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932). This collection includes Rokeya's most popular story, Sultana's Dream , and some essays and letters written originally in English, as well as Quayum's own translation of several of her fiction and non-fiction works written originally in Bengali. This will enable readers outside Bangladesh and West Bengal to appraise and appreciate Rokeya's fundamental role in the feminist awakening in South Asia, especially among the Bengali Muslims of her time.
:
Includes index. :
1 online resource (xxxii, 198 pages) :
9789004255876 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Women, leadership and mosques : changes in contemporary Islamic authority /
:
The acceptance of female leadership in mosques and madrassas is a significant change from much historical practice, signalling the mainstream acceptance of some form of female Islamic authority in many places. This volume investigates the diverse range of female religious leadership present in contemporary Muslim communities in South, East and Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America, with chapters discussing its emergence, the limitations placed upon it, and its wider impact, as well as the physical and virtual spaces used by women to establish and consolidate their authority. It will be invaluable as a reference text, as it is the first to bring together analysis of female Islamic leadership in geographically and ideologically-diverse Muslim communities worldwide.
:
1 online resource (xvii, 581 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004209367 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Male domination, female revolt : race, class, and gender in Kuwaiti women's fiction /
:
This book investigates various forms of women's resistance to male domination, as represented in Kuwaiti women's fiction. Drawing on Marxist-feminist literary theory, it closely analyses selected texts (published between 1953 and 2000), which reflect the effects of patriarchal culture and tradition on race, class, and gender relations in Kuwait and the Arabian Gulf region in general. It argues that the selected texts portray the pre-oil generations of Kuwaiti/Arabian Gulf women-born before or in the first half of the twentieth century-as resistant and/or revolutionary figures, contrary to the common notion of their stereotypical passivity and submissiveness. This book demonstrates how Kuwaiti women writers have used literature to work for, and contribute to, social change.
:
Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Edinburgh, 2005. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047442677 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Border Lives: An Ethnography of a Lebanese Town in Changing Times /
:
Border Lives offers an in-depth account of how people in Arsal, a northeastern town on the border of Lebanon with Syria, experienced postwar sociality, and how they grappled with living in the margins of the Lebanese state in the period following the 1975-1990 war. In a rich ethnography of 'changing times,' Michelle Obeid shows how restrictions in cross-border mobility, transformations in physical and social spaces, burgeoning new industries and shifting political alliances produced divergent ideologies about domesticity and the family, morality and personhood. Attending to metaphors of modernity in a rural border context, Border Lives broadens the sites in which modernity and social change can be investigated.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004394346
Secular and Islamic feminist critiques in the work of Fatima Mernissi /
:
This book presents a detailed critical analysis of the work of Fatima Mernissi. Mernissi is considered to be one of the major figures in Feminist thought for both Morocco and Muslim society in general. This work discusses Mernissi's intellectual trajectory from 'secular' to 'Islamic' feminism in order to trace the evolution of so-called Islamic feminist theory. The book also engages critically with the work of other Muslim feminists, using frameworks and approaches developed in the works of Muslim reformist thinkers, namely Mohammad Arkoun and Nasr Abu Zaid, with the aim of engaging the theorization of this emerging feminism.
:
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [277]-285) and index. :
9789047429609 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
One foot in Heaven : narratives on gender and Islam in Darfur, West-Sudan /
:
This book is based on extensive anthropological field-research in Kebkabiya, a town in Darfur, West-Sudan(1990-1995), when the Islamist government of Sudan had just come to power. The title of the book is a conflation of two main government perspectives on the role of women. These proved to be decisive for the ways in which two classes of working women - low-class market women and highly esteemed female teachers- negotiated their identities within the Islamist moral discourse on gender. The book focuses on the biographic narratives of one woman from each class, which are analysed as part of the multi-layered context in which the woman spoke and acted - and of which the author also formed part. Finally, the author reflects on the war in Darfur as part of a process of identities-in-construction.
:
Includes fold-out maps.
Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)--Universiteit Leiden, 2001. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [497]-520) and index. :
9789047422983 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.