Editorial

With this issue of AJISS, we bring this volume to a close. This year hasbrought many changes to AJISS, not only in the scope of Islamic issueshighlighted within the articles, but also in the range of opinions articulatedby their authors. As a fourm for intellectual debates on issues relating toIslam, MISS strives to “push the intellectual envelope” of Islamic thought.No subject matter better reflects this attempt than the issue of women,which many articles in this issue analyze.In her article “Oikos/polis Conflict: Perspectives of Gender Feministsand Islamic Revivalists,” Zeenath Kausar examines the continuing debateon women’s political participation in order to demonstrate “how genderfeminists prefer women’s political participation at the cost of deconstructinggender and family, whereas contemporary Islamic revivalists “supportand encourage women’s political participation-but not at the expense offamily and the distinct identity of women.” After a brief survey of feministphilosophy and Muslim revivalist discourse, Kausar concludes that genderfeminists create an atmosphere of conflict between men and women, whileMuslim revivalists look at men and women as copartners in constructingcivilization.In questioning exactly this notion of copartnership between men andwomen, Hibba Abugideiri undertakes, in her “Allegorical Gender: TheFigure of Eve Revisited,” a discourse analysis of classical Islamic texts inorder to uncover how gender categories were constructed by classicalexegetes. By focusing on the figure of Eve, which “has not only definedthe identity of Muslim woman: it has also set the parameters for how thatidentity has been forged,” she questions the authoritative value and relevanceof the classical view of Eve for contemporary social demands.Underlying her Qur’anic rereading of Eve’s role in the parable of creationlies the goal of forging a new methodological approach to Islamic issuesthat need to be redressed, particularly in light of the current wave ofIslamic revivalism.Finally, in her review essay “Muslim Women’s Studies: Two Contributions,”Mohja Kahf engages in a critical analysis of two gender historiesthat interface nicely with Abugideiri’s study. Here, Kahf reviews two foraysinto the field of Muslim women’s studies that uncover the place of ...

Download Full-text

Allegorical Gender

American Journal of Islam and Society ◽

10.35632/ajis.v13i4.2296 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 518-535

Author(s):

Hibba Abugideiri

Keyword(s):

Women's Studies ◽

Social Reality ◽

Traditional View ◽

Women’S Studies ◽

Gender Categories

IntroductionIn the last decade, a number of monographs and forays in the field ofMuslim women’s studies have attempted to examine the place of theMuslim woman in the interpretive heritage of Islamic exegetical texts, particulythe hadith tufsir literature from the period of classical Islam.’ The figureof Eve (Hawwa’ in Qur’anic terminology) is an inevitable topic of discussionin all of these scholarly studies, primarily due to her definitive rolein the evolution of gender categories in the Islamic exegetical texts, and,subsequently, how this role has become an indicator of direction for theMuslim woman’s identity. The figure of Eve, in short, as articulated byMuslim classical exegetes, has not ony defined the identity of Muslimwoman; it has also set the parameters for how that identity has been forged.Yet, the traditional view of Eve portrays woman as both physically andmentally inferior to man, as well as spiritually inept. This classical interpretationof Eve has come to be endowed with sacred authority, more so byvirtue of its place in our Islamic past than by any Qur’anic sanction.This is not to imply that all of the medieval classical writings on Islamconstitute a monolithic whole. After all, the sources of the Shari‘ah, namely,the Qur’an and the hadith, historically have been highly adaptable texts:In the case of the Qur’an, its directives are general, broad, and flexiblein most cases; therefore they could be translated into the termsof a specific social reality of each generation of interpreters.Concerning the hadith . . . given the inevitable gap between theactual and the idealized. . . it is not surprising that the Hadith containsan abundance of varied and often contradictory traditions, ...

Download Full-text

Neoliberal Feminist Scholarship in Biblical Studies

The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Approaches to the Hebrew Bible ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190462673.013.12 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 157-179

Author(s):

Esther Fuchs

Keyword(s):

Literary Criticism ◽

Women's Studies ◽

Critical Analysis ◽

Biblical Theology ◽

Biblical Studies ◽

Historical Overview ◽

Feminist Scholarship ◽

Historical Criticism ◽

Women’S Studies ◽

Relative Utility

This essay provides a critical analysis of the neoliberal grounding of feminist biblical studies. I outline the main problems generated by this framework, notably fragmentation, repetition, the absence of theory, the limiting emphasis on method, and above all the validation of traditional (male-dominant) scholarly norms and practices. Seeking greater inclusion within biblical studies, neoliberal feminism has endorsed the normalizing approach to patriarchy and rejected its radical interrogation in women’s studies. My thumbnail historical overview of the field links disconnected publications in biblical theology, historical criticism, and literary criticism. The analysis shows that these possibilities advocate the relative utility of re-objectifying women with five hermeneutical strategies. They are: first, the depatriarchalizing strategy, exemplified in Phyllis Trible’s work; second, the historicizing strategy as employed most prominently by Carol Meyers; third, the textualizing strategy exemplified by Ilana Pardes; fourth, the mythologizing strategy employed by Susan Ackerman; and fifth, the idealizing strategy exemplified by Frymer-Kensky. By placing my critical analysis within the broader context of transformational feminist critiques published at the same time, I argue for a shift from the “biblical” to the “feminist” in feminist biblical studies.

Download Full-text

Talk in

Al-Raida Journal ◽

10.32380/alrj.v0i0.966 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 2

Author(s):

Lebanese American University

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Women's Studies ◽

Arab World ◽

Men And Women ◽

Women’S Studies ◽

Mixed Feelings ◽

Selection Of

On the occasion of International Women's Day, the Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World, Beirut UniversityCollege organized a women's TALK IN, instead of the usual lectures and/or panels. On March 9,1994, BUC communitywhich included students, faculty, staff and friends of the IWSAW gathered to express themselves on various women andgender issues. Approximately 600 persons, men and women, urgently raised their handsfor their turn with themicrophones. The atmosphere was filled with mixed feelings on various issues. There was anger against oppression, enthusiasm for human rights, and some backlash against women and their movement. Here is a selection of some of the statements made.

Download Full-text

Patriarchy Canonization: Comparing Women's Political Participation in Matrilineal and Patrilineal Orders in Sumatra, Indonesia.

JPPUMA Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan dan Sosial Politik Universitas Medan Area ◽

10.31289/jppuma.v9i2.5660 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 208-223

Author(s):

Erond Litno Damanik

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Political Participation ◽

Empirical Evidence ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Women In Politics ◽

Kinship System ◽

General Elections ◽

The Relationship ◽

North Sumatra ◽

Women's Political Participation

The purpose of this study is to describe a recent comparison of women's political participation based on empirical evidence on the matrilineal and patrilineal orders in West and North Sumatra, respectively. This study was motivated by the low involvement of women in politics in the 2014 and 2019 general elections. The study offers specific insights into kinship order as political allegiance. This is a qualitative research carried out using a pragmatic methodological approach with academic discussions directed at the relationship between kinship and political participation. The results showed that the canonization of Islamic patriarchy in the matrilineal order impacts involution and exclusive women in the domestic arena. Meanwhile, the canonization of Christian patriarchy in the patrilineal order impacts devolution and inclusive women in politics. Therefore, based on this empirical evidence, it is concluded that the kinship system is not a relevant political allegiance.

Download Full-text

Tahtal-Mijhar: Relationships, Young Men and Women

Al-Raida Journal ◽

10.32380/alrj.v0i0.833 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 8-9

Author(s):

Lebanese American University

Keyword(s):

Young People ◽

Women's Studies ◽

Arab World ◽

Young Men ◽

Men And Women ◽

Women’S Studies

The Institute for Women's Studies in the Arab World has been organizing meetings for young people for several months. These young people, who are collectively known as the Friends of IWSAW, are students from different Lebanese universities such as LAU, AUB, St. Joseph University and the Lebanese University.

Download Full-text

The Tatras of highland men or women? The gender of Podhale highlanders and appropriation of space

Góry, Literatura, Kultura ◽

10.19195/2084-4107.14.14 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 ◽

pp. 183-195

Author(s):

Anna Pigoń

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Women's Studies ◽

Social Roles ◽

Cultural Anthropology ◽

Men And Women ◽

Women’S Studies ◽

Early Twentieth Century ◽

Literary Portraits

Although it might seem that the indigenous inhabitants of the mountain, i.e. highlanders, have the greatest right to “appropriate” them, they cannot be treated as a monolith, as men and women function differently in that space. They are assigned various social roles: men — those associated with exploration, women — those to do mainly with the home and household. This determines the two group’s place in Podhale and outside it.The article is an analysis of literary portraits of highland men and women from works written in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The authors of the works are often people who became part of the highlander community, got to know it thoroughly and on the basis of their observations described the relations governing it — relations in which an important role was played by land.The analysis of literary portraits of representatives of the highlander community has been carried out primarily by means of cultural anthropology tools, but it also takes into account women’s studies. This has made it possible to define the links between the highlanders and space, and to answer the question formulated in the title: do the Tatras belong to highland men or women?

Download Full-text

Women's Participation in Village Autonomy in China: Evidence from Zhejiang Province

The China Quarterly ◽

10.1017/s0305741009000083 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 197 ◽

pp. 145-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Xiajuan Guo ◽

Yongnian Zheng ◽

Lijun Yang

Keyword(s):

Political Participation ◽

Gender Gap ◽

Rural Women ◽

Zhejiang Province ◽

Self Awareness ◽

Local Power ◽

Power Structures ◽

Men And Women ◽

Women's Participation ◽

Women's Political Participation

AbstractDrawing on the data collected from three surveys in China's Zhejiang province during the period from 1999 to 2006, this article attempts to examine women's political participation in village autonomy and village elections in China. The data show that while men and women have obtained a very similar level of self-awareness and motivation in terms of political participation, China's patriarchal system, embedded in various forms of mindset and political practice, continues to constrain rural women's political involvement in a substantial way. The gender gap remains and the proportion of rural women in local power structures is declining. The article explains both the similarities and differences between men and women in rural political participation, and identifies some major causes for the decline of women's share in grassroots leading positions. It shows that there is no causal linkage between economic development and the improvement of women's political participation, and that the lack of political and other systematic supports leads to the low proportion of women in local power structures.

Download Full-text