scholarly journals Institutional Sufism in Contemporary Pakistan: Theorizing Gender through Practice

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saad ali Khan

The article aims to question the easily given and accepted notion of “gender equality” and “gender egalitarianism and justice” in Sufism in Pakistan, which does not (otherwise) question the power relations between man and woman given within practice of Sufism. The analysis does not draw on theological undertones rather it relies on socially lived reality of understanding “gender” and the hierarchy as it is practiced, mediated and legitimized in the daily life of people through Sufism. The study problematizes the concept of ‘gender’ in practice of Sufism in Pakistan through the works of Joan W Scott. It attempts to examine how gender is articulated within Sufism through practice in Pakistan. Sufism in contemporary Pakistan practiced through shrines, orders and mater-disciple relationship, when analyzed through the analytical category of gender i.e. power relations between men and women that operate within and across four interrelated social levels, reveals its gendered nature. I contend, that claims of gender egalitarianism or gender equality within Sufism (discursive level) is not actually practiced in the realm of activity instead, Sufism in practice reconstitutes or reestablishes gendered order or duality and gender hierarchy within society. With the critical examination of secondary literature, these assumedly claims and notions of gender egalitarianism, when contested or problematized, reveals the hidden gendered face of Sufism in Pakistan. Therefore Sufism as practiced in contemporary Pakistan constitutes discrimination, difference, hierarchal and asymmetrical power relations between women and men.  

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Meenakshi Sharma

This article focuses on the role of Dr B. R. Ambedkar in the empowerment of women through mobilization of the womenfolk against the subjugation meted out to them by the caste and gender hierarchy in order to maintain the existing caste structures. Ambedkar realized the need for women to become the torchbearers of the new reformed society which is both casteless and classless in nature. He therefore advocated a companionate relationship between men and women as opposed to the master–slave relationship that Manu propagated in Manusmriti. In order to achieve such a feat, the need of the hour was to free women from the bounds imposed upon them by the existing Brahmanical social order which treated them as subservient to men and wholly dependent on their male counterparts. Manu’s idea of a woman was of a subhuman being in need of stringent control by her male relations. This article seeks to answer the question—why it was imperative to control women thus? Women, owing to their reproductive potential, have the ability to dismantle the caste purity by reproducing outside of their castes. Hence, their ideological suppression becomes essential to the enterprise of maintaining caste purity. For this purpose, several ritualistic tools had to be put in place to extinguish the threat of women’s sexuality.


LITERA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sri Harti Widyastuti

This study aims to describe Javanese women’s personality in the perspective of feminism and gender equality and inequality in Serat Suluk Residriya and Serat Wulang Putri. It employed the qualitative research design and modern philology. The findings are as follows. Javanese women’s personality in Serat Suluk Residriya includes their images. Gender inequality in Serat Suluk Residriya includes subordination, woman stereotype, rights to use but not to possess, women as sexual objects, and polygamy. Gender inequality in Serat Wulang Putri shows that women must have a lot of children. Gender equality in Sera Wulang Putrishows that men and women have equal rights to be ascetic, knowledgeable, skillful, brave and great, and wealthy.


2008 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-52
Author(s):  
Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska

The main purpose of the article is to analyse the language and argumentation used by Polish politicians in debates on equality and gender equality rights. The material analysed in the article includes shorthand records gathered in the internet archives of the Sejm and the Senate during legislative works on the bill on the equal status of men and women. The conclusion, drawn after the analysis, supports the initial theses of the authors (Marek Czyżewski, Sergiusz Kowalski, Andrzej Piotrowski), who claimed that the basic “mode of public discourse” in Poland is the so-called “ritual chaos”, which manifests a lack of will of agreement and ostentatious self-presentation. During the debate the MPs defined the key words such as “equality” and “parity” in various manner, they marginalised the problem of discrimination of sexes and showed a lack of professionalism in their presentations. It was surprising to see one of the strongest voices against the bill presented by the representative of the “Platforma Obywatelska”, which normally claims liberalism and equality. Meanwhile, the most rational and balanced views and arguments for equality of rights for women were presented by a representative of the “Samoobrona”.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 385-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle Kaufman ◽  
Hiromi Taniguchi

This study examines the relationship between gender ideology at the individual level, gender equality at the country level, and women and men’s experiences of work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). We use data from the 2012 International Social Survey Programme as well as the 2011 to 2015 Human Development Reports. Our sample consists of 24,547 respondents from 37 countries. Based on multilevel mixed-effects logistic models, we find that women are more likely than men to experience WIF and FIW. At the individual level, traditional gender ideology positively predicts WIF and FIW. Women and men who reside in more gender-unequal countries have a higher likelihood of FIW while men in these contexts also are more likely to experience WIF. Societal gender inequality is more consequential for those who hold less traditional gender ideology. In conclusion, gender egalitarianism at the individual level and gender equality at the country level are both associated with less WIF and FIW. Policies that seek to address work–family balance should incorporate measures to promote gender equality.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 205316801770715 ◽  
Author(s):  
John D’Attoma ◽  
Clara Volintiru ◽  
Sven Steinmo

Studies examining the effects of gender on honesty, deceptive behavior, pro-sociality, and risk aversion, often find significant differences between men and women. The present study contributes to the debate by exploiting one of the largest tax compliance experiments to date in a highly controlled environment conducted in the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Italy. Our expectation was that the differences between men’s and women’s behavior would correlate broadly with the degree of gender equality in each country. Where social, political and cultural gender equality is greater we expected behavioral differences between men and women to be smaller. In contrast, our evidence reveals that women are significantly more compliant than men in all countries. Furthermore, these patterns are quite consistent across countries in our study. In other words, the difference between men’s and women’s behavior is not significantly different in more gender neutral countries than in more traditional societies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 932-956
Author(s):  
Amal Jamal

Abstract This article seeks to enhance the understanding of ontological counter-securitization and the constitution of securitized subjects in the context of asymmetrical power relations. It builds on the available critique of the conceptualization of counter-securitization and the differentiation between physical and ontological securitization in order to facilitate a better understanding of the identity formation of securitized subjects as resistance. It argues that whereas the current literature deals with the differentiation between physical and ontological dimensions of securitization and recently with the meaning of counter-securitization, nonetheless the treatment of the later as a resistance is limited. It remains in the realm of the physical dimensions of securitization, rendering ontological ones unaddressed. The article argues that ontological counter-securitization emerges as an analytical category when the mismatch between the physical and ontological securitization policies is utilized as a structural opportunity for resisting asymmetrical power relations. The article exemplifies its theoretical arguments through exploring the complicated securitization policies of Israel toward its Palestinian citizens and the resistance of the latter to such policies. It argues that despite the fact that the Israeli physical and ontological securitization of its Palestinian citizens have not matched, they have been constructed as complementary and therefore have not been morally justifiable. This lack of moral justifiability has had repercussions on the legitimacy of the securitization policy, leading to the rise of the securitized subject as a securitizing agency that is able to practice counter-securitization. Since the power relations between the state and its Palestinian citizens has been asymmetrical, the latter limited their counter-securitization to the ontological dimension, manifested through politicizing their indigenous identity. The conceptualization of politicizing indigeneity as an ontological counter-securitization strategy of resistance has not been addressed in the available literature on securitization theory. Thus, exploring its analytical merits is a central goal of this article.


2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 274-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Northrop Orme ◽  
M. Elizabeth Lewis Hall ◽  
Tamara L. Anderson ◽  
Jason McMartin

This study assesses individual social attitudes and ideological beliefs regarding systems of power and sexism (i.e., Authoritarianism, Conservatism, Traditionalism, Social Dominance Orientation [SDO], Hostile Sexism [HS], and Benevolent Sexism [BS]) in relationship to Bible interpretation choice about passages related to gender. Data were collected from 216 conservative Protestant Christian churchgoers. It was hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of Authoritarianism, Conservatism, Traditionalism, SDO, HS, and BS would prefer interpretations that endorse gender hierarchy. The results supported these hypotheses, finding Traditionalism and HS to be the primary factors related to interpretation choice. Additionally, it was hypothesized that any significant difference between men and women regarding interpretation choice would be explained by individual differences in these social attitudes and ideological beliefs. Men were significantly more likely than women to prefer Bible interpretations oriented toward gender hierarchy, and this difference was primarily explained by Traditionalism and HS.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Lozano ◽  
Sarah Jameson ◽  
Sylvain Aubry ◽  
Magdalena Sepúlveda

This briefing paper aims to explore the role of public services in the transformation of asymmetrical power relations between women and men. Released on International Women’s Day, the brief argues that public services can play a decisive role in this transformation, by fostering a critical examination of gender roles, redistributing resources and opportunities and strengthening positive social practices that enhance gender equality. It puts forward five key elements for a gender-transformative approach to the management, delivery, funding and ownership of public services


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ujvala Rajadhyaksha

PurposeThis study asks the following research question: does “city” context interact with gender and gender egalitarianism (GE) to impact the positive (WFPOS – work–family positive spillover) and negative (WFC - work-family conflict) aspects of the work–family (WF) interface of working men and women in India.Design/methodology/approachMANCOVA analysis is used to examine data gathered from 250+ working men and women from eight different Indian cities that were ranked based on the 2018 Ease of Living (EOL) Index.FindingsThere was no significant main effect of gender on WF interface variables. Low levels of GE and low EOL were significantly associated with high levels of WFC and WFPOS. There was a significant interaction between gender, GE and city. An examination of within-gender differences indicated that in low-EOL cities, men and women with low values of GE (traditionals) had significantly higher time-based WFC than men and women with high values of GE (egalitarians). Additionally, traditional women reported higher WFPOS than egalitarian women. In high-EOL cities, traditional men reported significantly higher time-based WFC than egalitarian men. There were no significant differences between women.Research limitations/implicationsGender, along with gender-related attitudinal and contextual variables, does a better job of explaining variance in the WF interface as compared to gender alone. Results support the notion that high WFPOS and high WFC can co-occur in contexts of change and transition such as rapidly growing urban centers.Practical implicationsThe results have significance for work–family practitioners as well as urban city planners looking to improve the quality of work–life in India and other similar emerging market economies experiencing rapid urbanization.Originality/valueThe study extends work–family research by bringing aspects of urban planning and gender studies into an understanding of the work–family interface.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document