abstract: The thesis I have written aims to investigate the underlying reasons why France has considered Islam as unassimilable and why it has targeted Muslim women’s bodies to force assimilation. In the first section of the thesis, I examine the colonial relationship between France and Algeria. I conclude that Algeria’s independence from France significantly influenced the negative treatment towards immigrants in postcolonial France. I then study the racist discourse that dominated French politics in the 1980s; and clarify how this has laid the foundation for the first attempt to ban the headscarves in public schools during the 1980s. The final section explores the 2004 ban on conspicuous religious symbols, a ban that significantly targeted the headscarf. I conclude that the prohibition of the headscarf undermined the rights of Muslim women and symbolized France’s inability to accept Islam, since France feared Islam’s visibility weakened a dominant French identity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social Justice and Human Rights 2017

abstract: This dissertation research analyzes the vernacular cosmopolitan praxis of Muslim women in transnational cyberspaces related to topical and collective action networks, in an effort to detangle cosmopolitanism from its Western biases and to move away from studies of online Muslim populations based on geographical locations or homogenous networks, linking individuals through their religious practices or consumption of religious knowledge. Through highlighting praxes rather than contexts, this dissertation disrupts the East/West binary and challenges stereotypes ascribed to Muslim women. One of the research questions related to the cosmopolitan praxis of Muslim women is the following: in what ways do Muslim women engage with "others" online and contribute to bridging dissimilar people? Findings suggest that the social media use of Muslim women contributes to their subtle resistance against communal norms and, although it can serve as an extension to their voices, some of their voices are more readily mediated than others. I employ a connective content analysis methodology to put various datasets associated with topics and collective actions related to Muslim women into conversation. The methodology not only highlights consistencies in the qualitative themes that were iteratively developed through the analyses of the datasets, but also more tangible connections related to social media users, topics, and content. Consequently, this thesis is as much concerned with recasting Western-oriented conceptualizations of cosmopolitanism as it is with how networks dynamics foster and constrain cosmopolitan praxis because digital networks have the extraordinary capacity to link dissimilar people beyond any other type of medium. One of the research questions related to the methodology is: how do network dynamics facilitate and constrain cosmopolitan praxis? The substantive chapters related to the datasets discuss various forms of cosmopolitan praxis that were identified in the analysis: social media use by Muslim women that expands the connective memory, which could contribute to dispelling stereotypes ascribed to them; activism that addresses universal concerns related to women's rights regardless of context; dialogically devising basic standards of social conduct and gender relations; and expressions of tolerance toward divergent views, including alternative interpretations of Islamic beliefs and practices. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Justice Studies 2014

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abstract: The present study tested the hypothesis that women dress modestly to signal to other women that they pose no mate poaching threat and are sexually restricted, and that this is especially true for religious women. Participants were 392 Muslim women living in the United States. They read two passages describing fictional situations in which they met with a potential female friend and then indicated what kind of outfit they would wear in both situations. In one situation, the participant obtained a reputation for promiscuity; in the other situation, reputation was not mentioned. I predicted that participants would choose more modest outfits for the promiscuous reputation passage, because if women dress modestly to signal sexual restrictedness, then they should dress more modestly around women with whom they have a reputation for promiscuity—to counteract such a reputation, women may wish to send a strong signal that they are not promiscuous. The hypothesis was partially supported: Less religious women chose more modest outfits for the promiscuous reputation situation than they did for the no reputation situation. This suggests that some women dress modestly to signal sexual restrictedness to other women, but that this is especially true for women who are less religious, not more. More religious women dress more modestly than less religious women, but they may not dress modestly to signal sexual restrictedness. Two important goals for this area of research are to determine the proximate reasons that more religious women dress modestly and to investigate modest dress among non-Muslim religious women. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2020

Orientador: Maria Dolores Aybar Ramirez / Resumo: Ao nos decidirmos, inicialmente, por um levantamento arqueológico de mulheres escritoras árabes/muçulmanas para uma escolha posterior de obras que nos levassem a um maior conhecimento dessa literatura, deparamos com a escassez de traduções e publicações no Brasil, em comparação com o grande número existente em outros países, principalmente da Europa e da América do Norte. Acreditamos que isso se deva a maior presença dessas mulheres escritoras em tais continentes, gerando um fascínio pelo exótico, mas também um misto de atração e repulsão, sempre acompanhado de estereótipos, já enraizados pelo orientalismo. No Brasil, no entanto, salvo raras exceções, as editoras voltaram-se quase que exclusivamente para as autobiografias de mulheres que tecem duras críticas aos seus países de origem, às suas leis, à situação e normas de conduta para as mulheres, na maioria restritivas e opressoras, reafirmando uma imagem já impregnada de preconceitos. Vemos assim que a oferta de publicações em nosso país também nos impede uma visão mais abrangente e nos força a ratificar impressões essencialistas que em nada contribuem para o conhecimento e possível fruição da literatura produzida por essas mulheres, agora veladas, inclusive, por questões mercadológicas que camuflam e perpetuam as mesmas visões engessadas. Na tentativa de fugir desses relatos, sempre carregados de perseguição e dor, priorizamos para o nosso estudo o romance Meu nome é Salma, da autora jordaniano-britânica Fadia Faqir pois su... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: When deciding, initially, for an archaeological survey of Arab/Muslim women writers for a later choice of works which would lead us to a greater knowledge of this literature, we faced the scarcity of translations and publications in Brazil, in comparison with the large number which exists in other countries, mainly in Europe and North America. We believe that this is due to the greater presence of these women writers in such continents, creating a fascination with the exotic, but also a mixture of attraction and repulsion, always accompanied by stereotypes, already rooted by Orientalism. In Brazil, however, with a few rare exceptions, publishers turned almost exclusively to the autobiographies of women who harshly criticize their countries of origin, their laws, the situation and rules of conduct for women, most of which are restrictive and oppressive, reaffirming an image already steeped in prejudice. We thus see that the supply of publications in our country also prevents us from taking a more comprehensive view and forces us to ratify essentialist impressions which in no way contribute to the knowledge and possible enjoyment of the literature produced by these women, now veiled, by marketing issues which camouflage and perpetuate the same plastered visions. So as to escape these accounts, always laden with persecution and pain, we prioritized the novel My name is Salma, by the Jordanian-British author Fadia Faqir because her narrative, written in English, involves other di... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

In recent years in Europe, the veiling of the muslim women has become a political issue. Various laws were passed in order to regulate the appearance of the islamic veil in public. Such policies caused several protests and led to many debates over the meaning of the veil. In this thesis I focus on academic contributions to these debates. My aim is to find out what veiling stands for in the academic literature that deals with the situation in Europe (including Turkey). Both books and articles concerned with islamic veil are examined by means of the qualitative content analysis. Building on the principles of the feminist research, I also evaluate the methodologies of selected works. Another pursued aspect of the analysed texts is the use of the concept of gender.

Depression is a serious mental health condition which affects millions of people around the world. The biomedical model of illness categorises depression as a clinical disorder and primarily physiological in origin. However, conceptions of mental health such as depression may vary contextually because they are shaped by cultural understandings of illness. Research is encouraged to further investigate the context and culture of those affected, in an effort to better respond to local realities and psychologies. A qualitative research approach was utilised in this study, with social constructionism as its paradigmatic point of departure. One in-depth semi-structured interview was conducted with five South African Indian Muslim women from the greater Johannesburg area. Thematic analysis was used to interpret the interviews. Four main themes surfaced; what depression is and is not, causes of depression, treatment and stigma. Each main theme included various sub-themes. In addition, culture and gender arose from the analysis, as influential constructs across these themes. These themes highlighted the complexity and importance of culture and gender on the constructions of depression, for these women. These findings encourage the inclusion for cultural sensitivity in treating Indian Muslim women, and responding to the broader community’s needs. This can assist mental healthcare professionals to integrate culture and gender, as constructs, in offering more effective and appropriate treatment for lay understandings of depression, to respond to local realities. Furthermore, these findings add to a growing body of research which attempts to broaden and deepen understandings of mental health and culture, to better respond to patient’s needs. / Mini dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Psychology / MA (Clinical Psychology) / Unrestricted

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The South African Constitution provides a comprehensive list of rights, many of which are important, directly or indirectly, to meet the needs of religious minorities in the country. However, due to South Africa being a secular state and also having particular needs, many workplaces tend to adopt this approach which leads to a conflict between Muslims' religious obligations and the rules of the workplace. As a result, Muslim employees may perceive that their employers are religiously discriminating against them. Muslim women may face more discrimination than Muslim men as their stigma is less concealable due to their modest dressing and the hijab (religious identity marker). Surprisingly, there has been an increase in cases of religious discrimination against Muslim women. To elucidate, these Muslim women employees were asked to remove their hijab on their job as it somewhat violated the company policies. Therefore, presenting a challenge for Muslim women as their religious identity is part of their self-concept and they are required to follow their religious obligations. Informed by theories such as Social Identity Theory and Intergroup Threat Theory, the present study utilised a cross-sectional design to examine the role of Muslim identity in perceived religious discrimination in the workplace. To gain insight about the hijab in various contexts, the current study also examined the comfortability of wearing the hijab in different contexts. The participants were 75 Muslim women living and working in organisations in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The findings of this research indicate that the dimensions of Muslim identity are not significant predictors of perceived religious discrimination; however, psychological identity can lead Muslim women to perceive less or no discrimination. Furthermore, the ANOVA showed that Muslim women did not feel significantly more comfortable wearing the hijab in certain contexts. This study offered implications for both research and practice and made significant recommendations for future research.