Performing Islam : gender and ritual in Iran /
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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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-280) and indexes. :
9789047410546 :
1570-7628 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Women, leadership and mosques : changes in contemporary Islamic authority /
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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.
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1 online resource (xvii, 581 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004209367 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Secular and Islamic feminist critiques in the work of Fatima Mernissi /
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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.
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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 /
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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.
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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.