Master's thesis. / Format: PDF. Bibl.

Conflict resolution theory and practice have been increasingly criticised for ignoring the centrality of culture in their attempts to find theories and models that are applicable universally, not only across cultures but also across levels of society. Mediation is one form of conflict resolution, which has come to occupy a central position in the resolution of disputes both at international and local levels. At the level of family disputes, family mediation has failed to engage users from different ethnic groups in England and Wales. This thesis explores the hypothesis that culture and, in particular, culturally defined concepts of gender are the important factors determining the success or failure of mediation in divorce disputes.

This thesis examines the evolving gender relationships exposed by and contested through the Senegalese art of seduction, mokk pooj. The Wolof expression encompasses a set of feminine attitudes and actions (culinary prowess, docility, eroticism) that reflect values such as teraanga (hospitality), sutura (discretion), and muñ (patience, endurance). These beliefs and the discursive practices that perpetuate them are central to the reproduction of a gendered, normative, patriarchal, polygamous Senegalese sexual imaginary, but are framed within the playful and pleasurable realm of seduction and sexuality. Indeed, mokk pooj implies a satisfying sexual life based on a religiously-­‐informed sexual ethics: in a country where 95% of people identify as Muslim, marriage and procreation are divine recommendations, and sexual pleasure is said to make a married couple feel closer to Allah. In consequence, objects and strategies that enhance sexual satisfaction are an integral part of the Senegalese seduction toolkit. Each chapter pays attention to a specific element of the material culture of seduction and explores how it exposes larger gender dynamics. By taking potions and amulets, money, aphrodisiacs, food, and lingerie as the starting point of each chapter, I explore how these objects relate to concepts of social conformity and normativity, love, anxiety, complementarity and agency. In doing so, I analyse the gendered labour – the art/work of seduction – that goes into mokk pooj. David Graeber (2012) suggests that within hierarchical relationships, individuals in an inferior position (women) have to constantly imagine, understand, manage and care about the egos, perspectives and points of view of those on the top (men) while the latter rarely reciprocate. While Graeber contends that this ‘interpretive labor’ or ‘imaginative identification’ reproduces an internalised structural violence, I analyse mokk pooj as an affective economy in which women’s emotional, interpretive labour, becomes an agentive, albeit conservative, tool of negotiation and power (Mahmood 2005). In imagining and interpreting men’s needs and desires, Senegalese women uphold the Senegalese sexual imaginary that portray them as docile and submissive. However, it is through the apparent conformity and subdued demeanour that mokk pooj requires of them that Senegalese women manage to portray themselves as good women and consequently enhance their agentive power of negotiation.

A pesquisa proposta aqui tem como objeto de estudo o feminismo islâmico, movimento político-religioso de luta contra a opressão e a dominação sobre a população de mulheres, presente em países muçulmanos e em diásporas muçulmanas. Concebido aqui lato sensu como uma atuação feminista associada à reinterpretação das fontes religiosas do Islã, baseado nos conceitos islâmicos de ijtihad (interpretação racional das fontes religiosas) e de tafsir (comentários sobre o Alcorão), para repensar a posição da mulher na sociedade muçulmana. A hipótese que conduz a presente investigação é a de que o feminismo islâmico pode ser pensado a partir de três eixos constitutivos, interligados entre si: 1) a separação em duas vertentes, de um lado, um ativismo religioso, auto-definido como jihad de gênero, cujas reivindicações parecem sobrepor o Islã aos direitos das mulheres, e, de outro, um ativismo político, definido como defensor dos direitos humanos internacionais, cujas reivindicações são no sentido de aplicar ao Islã os direitos das mulheres; 2) a ideia de continuidade, no sentido de eliminar qualquer visão maniqueísta sobre as duas tendências, estabelecendo aqui um contínuo entre elas em que suas narrativas e atuações circulam de um extremo ao outro, de um lado dos extremos, aproximam-se de uma narrativa islamista e de, outro lado dos extremos, aproximamse de parâmetros discursivos do feminismo secular; e, 3) as forças em disputa, atualmente há três principais forças em disputa no âmbito dos movimentos sociais de mulheres em países muçulmanos e diásporas, considerando a realidade fora dos conflitos armados: os movimentos feministas seculares, o movimento islamista de mulheres (esses dois tipos de movimentos com origens nos anos 20, no Egito) e o feminismo islâmico (de origem, nos anos 80, desterritorializada e transnacional). Este estudo parte de dois pressupostos: primeiro, o de que os movimentos feministas em países muçulmanos não estão isolados do contexto internacional, os seus desenvolvimentos acompanham as tensões dos movimentos feministas internacionais, sendo expressões da internacionalização dos movimentos feministas seculares e, depois, de hibridações culturais e movimentos identitários pós-coloniais; e, segundo, o de que o feminismo islâmico, com as suas características específicas político-religiosas, tencionado entre o reformismo e o conservadorismo, é em sua essência um movimento relativista religioso, ao se dirigir exclusivamente às mulheres muçulmanas. Assim, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa é o de compreender quais as contribuições desse feminismo islâmico para a transformação da vida da mulher muçulmana, considerando duas questões centrais: a) como se pode compreender a relação do feminismo islâmico com os movimentos islamistas? e b) em que medida o caráter religioso do feminismo islâmico pode ser o limitador (ou extensor) de seu caráter feminista? Para tal, será feita uma abordagem dos seguintes recortes temáticos, que inicialmente parecem abarcar grande parte dos aspectos mais evidentes do objeto de estudo, na perspectiva proposta aqui: 1) o feminismo secular de origem ocidental e seus desdobramentos no mundo muçulmano, entre a secularização e a reislamização; 2) as afinidades passadas e presentes do feminismo islâmico com a ideologia, o movimento e o modelo islamista; e 3) o grau de persuasão em que o feminismo islâmico pode estar intervindo na consciência e na prática social, considerando suas contradições. / The subject of study of this paper, Islamic feminism, is a political-religious movement struggling against the oppression and domination of the population of women in Muslim countries and in Muslim diasporas. It is understood here, in the wider sense, as a feminist movement associated with the reinterpretation of the religious sources of Islam, based on the Islamic concepts of ijtihad (rational interpretation of religious sources) and tafsir (interpretations of the Koran), to rethink the position of women in Muslim society. The hypothesis underpinning the present study is that Islamic feminism can be thought of as having three interconnected constituent axes: 1) a separation in two distinct tendencies; on the one hand, religious activism, self-defined as a \"gender jihad\", whose grievances seem to superimpose Islam on women\'s rights, and, on the other hand, political activism, defined as defending international human rights, whose demands seek to apply Islam to women\'s rights; 2) the idea of continuity, in the sense of eliminating any Manichean view of the two aforementioned tendencies, establishing a continuum between the two in which their narratives and actions move from one extreme to the other; at one extreme, approaching an Islamist narrative and, at the other extreme, the discursive parameters of secular feminism; and 3) the forces in disputes; of which we can discern three current main forces in dispute within the social movements of women in Muslim countries and diasporas, taking into consideration the reality outside of the armed conflicts: Secular Feminist movements, the Islamist women\'s movement (these two movements have their origins in Egypt in the 1920s) and Islamic feminism (originating in the 1980s and characterized as de-territorialized and transnational). This study is based on two assumptions: first, that feminist movements in Muslim countries are not isolated from the international context, their developments accompany the struggles of the international feminist movements, being expressions of the internationalization of secular feminist movements and, later, of cultural hybridizations and post-colonial identity movements; and, second, that Islamic feminism, with its specific religious-political characteristics, exists in a state of tension between reformism and conservatism, and is essentially a relativistic religious movement, in that it is addressed exclusively to Muslim women. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to understand the role of Islamic feminism in the transformation of the lives of Muslim women, taking into consideration two central questions: a) how can we understand the relation between Islamic feminism and Islamist movements? and b) to what extent can the religious elements of Islamic feminism be the constraint (or expansion) of its feminist characteristics? To this end, we will address the following themes, which initially seem to cover a large part of the most obvious aspects of the object of study, within the perspective proposed here: 1) secular feminism of \"Western origin\" and its developments in the Muslim world, between secularization and re-Islamization; 2) the past and present affinities of Islamic feminism with Islamist ideology, the Islamist movement and its model; and (3) the degree of influence that Islamic feminism may have on social consciousness and practices, taking into account its contradictions.

A pesquisa proposta aqui tem como objeto de estudo o feminismo islâmico, movimento político-religioso de luta contra a opressão e a dominação sobre a população de mulheres, presente em países muçulmanos e em diásporas muçulmanas. Concebido aqui lato sensu como uma atuação feminista associada à reinterpretação das fontes religiosas do Islã, baseado nos conceitos islâmicos de ijtihad (interpretação racional das fontes religiosas) e de tafsir (comentários sobre o Alcorão), para repensar a posição da mulher na sociedade muçulmana. A hipótese que conduz a presente investigação é a de que o feminismo islâmico pode ser pensado a partir de três eixos constitutivos, interligados entre si: 1) a separação em duas vertentes, de um lado, um ativismo religioso, auto-definido como jihad de gênero, cujas reivindicações parecem sobrepor o Islã aos direitos das mulheres, e, de outro, um ativismo político, definido como defensor dos direitos humanos internacionais, cujas reivindicações são no sentido de aplicar ao Islã os direitos das mulheres; 2) a ideia de continuidade, no sentido de eliminar qualquer visão maniqueísta sobre as duas tendências, estabelecendo aqui um contínuo entre elas em que suas narrativas e atuações circulam de um extremo ao outro, de um lado dos extremos, aproximam-se de uma narrativa islamista e de, outro lado dos extremos, aproximamse de parâmetros discursivos do feminismo secular; e, 3) as forças em disputa, atualmente há três principais forças em disputa no âmbito dos movimentos sociais de mulheres em países muçulmanos e diásporas, considerando a realidade fora dos conflitos armados: os movimentos feministas seculares, o movimento islamista de mulheres (esses dois tipos de movimentos com origens nos anos 20, no Egito) e o feminismo islâmico (de origem, nos anos 80, desterritorializada e transnacional). Este estudo parte de dois pressupostos: primeiro, o de que os movimentos feministas em países muçulmanos não estão isolados do contexto internacional, os seus desenvolvimentos acompanham as tensões dos movimentos feministas internacionais, sendo expressões da internacionalização dos movimentos feministas seculares e, depois, de hibridações culturais e movimentos identitários pós-coloniais; e, segundo, o de que o feminismo islâmico, com as suas características específicas político-religiosas, tencionado entre o reformismo e o conservadorismo, é em sua essência um movimento relativista religioso, ao se dirigir exclusivamente às mulheres muçulmanas. Assim, o objetivo principal desta pesquisa é o de compreender quais as contribuições desse feminismo islâmico para a transformação da vida da mulher muçulmana, considerando duas questões centrais: a) como se pode compreender a relação do feminismo islâmico com os movimentos islamistas? e b) em que medida o caráter religioso do feminismo islâmico pode ser o limitador (ou extensor) de seu caráter feminista? Para tal, será feita uma abordagem dos seguintes recortes temáticos, que inicialmente parecem abarcar grande parte dos aspectos mais evidentes do objeto de estudo, na perspectiva proposta aqui: 1) o feminismo secular de origem ocidental e seus desdobramentos no mundo muçulmano, entre a secularização e a reislamização; 2) as afinidades passadas e presentes do feminismo islâmico com a ideologia, o movimento e o modelo islamista; e 3) o grau de persuasão em que o feminismo islâmico pode estar intervindo na consciência e na prática social, considerando suas contradições. / The subject of study of this paper, Islamic feminism, is a political-religious movement struggling against the oppression and domination of the population of women in Muslim countries and in Muslim diasporas. It is understood here, in the wider sense, as a feminist movement associated with the reinterpretation of the religious sources of Islam, based on the Islamic concepts of ijtihad (rational interpretation of religious sources) and tafsir (interpretations of the Koran), to rethink the position of women in Muslim society. The hypothesis underpinning the present study is that Islamic feminism can be thought of as having three interconnected constituent axes: 1) a separation in two distinct tendencies; on the one hand, religious activism, self-defined as a \"gender jihad\", whose grievances seem to superimpose Islam on women\'s rights, and, on the other hand, political activism, defined as defending international human rights, whose demands seek to apply Islam to women\'s rights; 2) the idea of continuity, in the sense of eliminating any Manichean view of the two aforementioned tendencies, establishing a continuum between the two in which their narratives and actions move from one extreme to the other; at one extreme, approaching an Islamist narrative and, at the other extreme, the discursive parameters of secular feminism; and 3) the forces in disputes; of which we can discern three current main forces in dispute within the social movements of women in Muslim countries and diasporas, taking into consideration the reality outside of the armed conflicts: Secular Feminist movements, the Islamist women\'s movement (these two movements have their origins in Egypt in the 1920s) and Islamic feminism (originating in the 1980s and characterized as de-territorialized and transnational). This study is based on two assumptions: first, that feminist movements in Muslim countries are not isolated from the international context, their developments accompany the struggles of the international feminist movements, being expressions of the internationalization of secular feminist movements and, later, of cultural hybridizations and post-colonial identity movements; and, second, that Islamic feminism, with its specific religious-political characteristics, exists in a state of tension between reformism and conservatism, and is essentially a relativistic religious movement, in that it is addressed exclusively to Muslim women. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to understand the role of Islamic feminism in the transformation of the lives of Muslim women, taking into consideration two central questions: a) how can we understand the relation between Islamic feminism and Islamist movements? and b) to what extent can the religious elements of Islamic feminism be the constraint (or expansion) of its feminist characteristics? To this end, we will address the following themes, which initially seem to cover a large part of the most obvious aspects of the object of study, within the perspective proposed here: 1) secular feminism of \"Western origin\" and its developments in the Muslim world, between secularization and re-Islamization; 2) the past and present affinities of Islamic feminism with Islamist ideology, the Islamist movement and its model; and (3) the degree of influence that Islamic feminism may have on social consciousness and practices, taking into account its contradictions.

The subject and the scope of this study are the challenges faced by Muslim women in contemporary societies as presented by the four prominent authors: Leila Ahmed, Elizabeth Fernea, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud. The methodology applied to the literary analysis is the feminist-qualitative research approach in religious studies with specific reference to Islamic feminist studies. Many Muslim women scholars criticise the study of Third World women as objects of study-cases who are rarely heeded as serious scholars. Misconceptions about Islam and Muslim women are common in Western society. Previous studies have not dealt with the issue satisfactorily and failed to provide a holistic picture. The challenges faced by Muslim women have been interpreted against a Western feminist framework, thus causing more harm than good. The resultant predicament is the subject of this study in which Muslim women’s own attitudes and responses to their present circumstances and future prospects are explored. How and why Muslim women are challenged? How do they envisage the resolution of these challenges? The purpose of this study is to provide a framework that can give an adequate account of challenges as seen by Muslim women and to evaluate strategies that can provide suitable solutions to these challenges. Firstly, an objective Giele/Smock/Engineer framework was developed with reference to the most pressing challenges (articulated in well-documented definitions and descriptions) faced by Muslim women in contemporary societies. These key issues of women’s rights on political participation, education, work, family, and social participation were discussed and analysed in the light of this women-centred approach with specific reference to the writings of four prominent women authors: Leila Ahmed, Elizabeth Fernea, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud. Each author has brought her own particular perspective and area of expertise into the discussion – sometimes arguing among with the other authors in a virtual ‘roundtable’ discussion; at times joining hands in mutual agreement. Finally, Muslim women’s struggle against injustice was subjected to critical scrutiny with particular attention to common strategies and solutions that the four authors have used and developed in the light of the modern debate. It is in the latter discussion that the study reached its ultimate goal by determining how the challenges have been met. Moreover, Islamic feminism was assessed to determine how it related to and coped with social change and how effective it has been in seeking to assert rights of and find justice for women through historical, anthropological, socio-political and hermeneutical approach. / Religious Studies / D. Th. (Religious Studies)

The subject and the scope of this study are the challenges faced by Muslim women in contemporary societies as presented by the four prominent authors: Leila Ahmed, Elizabeth Fernea, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud. The methodology applied to the literary analysis is the feminist-qualitative research approach in religious studies with specific reference to Islamic feminist studies. Many Muslim women scholars criticise the study of Third World women as objects of study-cases who are rarely heeded as serious scholars. Misconceptions about Islam and Muslim women are common in Western society. Previous studies have not dealt with the issue satisfactorily and failed to provide a holistic picture. The challenges faced by Muslim women have been interpreted against a Western feminist framework, thus causing more harm than good. The resultant predicament is the subject of this study in which Muslim women’s own attitudes and responses to their present circumstances and future prospects are explored. How and why Muslim women are challenged? How do they envisage the resolution of these challenges? The purpose of this study is to provide a framework that can give an adequate account of challenges as seen by Muslim women and to evaluate strategies that can provide suitable solutions to these challenges. Firstly, an objective Giele/Smock/Engineer framework was developed with reference to the most pressing challenges (articulated in well-documented definitions and descriptions) faced by Muslim women in contemporary societies. These key issues of women’s rights on political participation, education, work, family, and social participation were discussed and analysed in the light of this women-centred approach with specific reference to the writings of four prominent women authors: Leila Ahmed, Elizabeth Fernea, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud. Each author has brought her own particular perspective and area of expertise into the discussion – sometimes arguing among with the other authors in a virtual ‘roundtable’ discussion; at times joining hands in mutual agreement. Finally, Muslim women’s struggle against injustice was subjected to critical scrutiny with particular attention to common strategies and solutions that the four authors have used and developed in the light of the modern debate. It is in the latter discussion that the study reached its ultimate goal by determining how the challenges have been met. Moreover, Islamic feminism was assessed to determine how it related to and coped with social change and how effective it has been in seeking to assert rights of and find justice for women through historical, anthropological, socio-political and hermeneutical approach. / Religious Studies / D. Th. (Religious Studies)