Debating the Law, Creating Gender : Sharia and Lawmaking in Palestine, 2012-2018 /
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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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004442313
9789004442306
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, Gender and Language in Morocco /
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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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047404378
9789004128538
Dreaming of Change: Young Middle-Class Women and Social Transformation in Jordan /
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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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789047416067
9789004146341
Ottoman women in public space /
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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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004316621 :
1570-7628 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Nawab Faizunnesa's Rupjalal /
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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.
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Translated from the Bengali. :
1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-220) and index. :
9789047442264 :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Border Lives: An Ethnography of a Lebanese Town in Changing Times /
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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.
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1 online resource. :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004394346