This study examines the role women’s groups play in the lives of 10 Muslim women in South Africa. A qualitative methodology was employed to gain information from two women’s groups in Johannesburg. An open-ended questionnaire, focus groups, and individual interviews were used to elicit information. The data were initially analysed using a computer-based content analysis programme (Atlas-ti), to identify a priori and emergent themes and categories in the data. These themes and categories were then used as the basis for a qualitative interpretive analysis, focused in particular on issues of empowerment with respect to psychological, community, economic, intellectual and political empowerment, and more specifically on gender equality. The study would thus suggest that while these groups do have many positive outcomes, the issues dealt with in women’s groups cannot be isolated from the broader social context in which Muslim women live. While the processes of empowerment appear to have begun in areas of psychological, community, intellectual, economic and political empowerment in this sample of women, empowerment with respect to gender equality still seems far off.

Thesis (Ph.D. ( Migration and Displacement))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2016. / This thesis explores how the Somali diaspora constitutes itself as a collectivity by analysing identity formation processes in an interconnected postmodern world, where migration has become much common than before, where identities are not as certain as they used to be and where a trans- local sense of being connected surpasses fix national borders. I propose the concept of the cosmopolitan refugee in order to explore how Somaliness is constructed in diasporic contexts, based on the interweaving of cosmopolitan, vernacular and national identifications. Moreover, Somaliness cannot be understood today without the influence of Islam, the cosmopolitan and political implications of belonging to the umma and the importance of being seen as a “good Muslim”. Using ethnographic and narrative data, this research takes a gendered approach and moves beyond the prevailing representations of Somali women in the global imagination by presenting alternative discourses and narratives that explore the dynamics of identity constructions these women undergo in relation to cultural, religious and gender practices in the two urban contexts of Nairobi and Johannesburg. These are two interconnected cities for the Somali diaspora that metaphorical operate as a port and as island. Both places are transitional places for Somalis and in both cities the creation of the “little Mogadishus” of Eastleigh, in Nairobi, and Mayfair, in Johannesburg, generates a particular trans-local situation in which collective identity, through the repetition of cultural and religious practices, is able to transform the urban space, at the same time that the implementation of these practices makes these places to be connected between them, to the lost homeland in Somalia and to any other place in the world Somalis inhabit these days. However, due to the bigger Somali population and the historical and geographical links with Somalia, Somalis in Nairobi develop greater feelings of belonging than in Johannesburg, where isolation seems to be the more widespread feeling. Somalis in Nairobi are more exposed to cosmopolitanism due to the relationship they have with the city, the fact that Eastleigh is a point of constant transit and an important commercial hub across the Somali diaspora all around the world, and the presence of Somalis belonging to different backgrounds. In Johannesburg, the Somali population is much smaller and the isolated situation most Somalis find make them use Somaliness as a way of resilience and demarcating difference, resulting in certain vernacular and religious practices being strengthened. In this sense, Nairobi is experienced by Somalis as more cosmopolitan than Johannesburg. Nevertheless in both contexts Somaliness is constructed around a sense of unity based on: a common place of origin and mythical past, a common language, religion and “culture”, implemented in the everyday life by the habitus of cultural and religious practices. This habitus together with a narrative of the nation being constructed in the virtual spaces of Facebook and Instagram creates a strong sense of belonging to an “imagined community”. Somaliness resides not within the boundaries of a nation-state but in a trans-local sense of being connected. / MT2017

Esta pesquisa se insere no campo dos estudos sobre o mundo muçulmano, tendo como objeto as mulheres muçulmanas e sua presença nos movimentos islamistas, entendidos aqui como movimentos fundamentalistas, cuja ideologia política tem como núcleo a defesa das tradições do Islã e a crítica ao Ocidente. O objetivo central é o de investigar em que medida esses movimentos podem estar contribuindo para (ou obstruindo) uma possível emancipação das mulheres muçulmanas, definida essa emancipação por critérios como autonomia na participação sociopolítica e presença nos espaços públicos. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa propõe-se, na perspectiva da História Social, fazer uma abordagem comparativa entre o Egito e a Turquia, pós-anos 80, estruturando-se em torno de três questões principais: a) O islamismo e seu impacto na vida social e política das mulheres; b) A presença feminina nos movimentos islamistas e c) A modernidade no Islã: a mulher e o islamismo. Trabalhando com as noções de Islã, fundamentalismo, identidade, gênero, feminismo, modernidade e outras, a pesquisa, ao voltar-se para as relações entre mulheres e islamismo, espera contribuir também para o estudo dos processos de modernização das sociedades muçulmanas. / This research inserts in the field of the studies about the Muslim world, having as object the Muslim women and its presence in Islamist movements, understood here as fundamentalist movements whose political ideology is centered defense of the traditions of Islam and in the criticism of West. The main objective is to investigate to what extent these movements may be contributing to (or blocking) a possible emancipation of Muslim women, this emancipation defined by criteria such as autonomy in social and political participation and presence in public spaces. In this sense, the research is proposed from the perspective of social history, making a comparison between Egypt and Turkey, after 80, and is structured around three main issues: a) Islam and its impact on social and politics life of women; b) the presence of women in Islamist movements c) modernity in Islam: Women and Islamism. Working with the notions of Islam, fundamentalism, identity, gender, feminism, modernity and other the research to turn to relations between women and Islamism, also hopes to contribute to the study of the modernization of Muslim societies.

Representations of the Muslim female are value-laden synonymous with the act of veiling. Veiling has fuelled political, social and academic debates and this study contributes to the ongoing conversation alongside identity formation by examining the image of the Muslim female on-screen with due attention given to animation. The image of the Muslim female is drawn in all manner of directions from that of the belly-dancing beauty to the 'bundle in black', the latter often associated with terrorism, particularly post-9/11 and the consequent 'War on Terror'. There is another direction that proffers an idealised image of the good daughter and dutiful wife against that of the fallen woman. Such constructs I argue tend to rid the Muslim female of her agency. This thesis examines how and why various representations of the Muslim female have emerged and changed, whilst some aspects have remained stagnant over time, thus positioning on-screen representations within their historical context. This project goes beyond traditional academic methods of critical analysis in reading film. The hybridised role of the researcher-animator enables the study to offer a critique from that of the spectator, but with the added vantage point of the practitioner with a set focus on the making of meaning. The interdisciplinary approach incorporates film theory, specifically concerned with representations of race and gender. The work of Muslim women scholar-activists informs and inspires the practice in reclaiming the status of the Muslim woman. Their approach lies within three trajectories being gender-sensitive interpretations of the Qur'an, a recovery of Muslim women's history and a critique on representation. Their approaches fall in line with the aim of this project to reclaim the historical Muslim figure on screen, whereas animation provides an attractive yet versatile mode of production to carry out such a task. Key questions guiding this study are: why are current and existing portrayals of the historical Muslim female problematic? Why do these portrayals need to be addressed? Why does an alternative approach to the portrayal of the historical Muslim female need to be devised and put into practice? Finding the answers to these questions lie in the undertaking of the practice. The practice consists of the first two episodes of a five-part series titled 'Sultan Razia', and as the title suggests the animation is based upon a legendary historical Muslim female figure, who ruled the Sultanate of Delhi between 634-638 Hejira/1236-1240CE. This project is an example of how theory works in practice and vice-versa to determine an audio-visual practice that re-inserts the Muslim female into a history that breaks away from established cliches.

Denna studies syfte är att beskriva några sjalbärande kvinnors upplevelser avbemötande inom högskole/universitetsmiljö. Studien undersöker dels bemötande frånlärare och dels bemötande från studiekamrater. För att undersöka detta användskvalitativa intervjuer. Intervjuundersökningens resultat visade på att respondenterna harmycket skilda upplevelser. Några av respondenterna har mycket negativa erfarenheterav bemötande från lärare, andra framhåller att lärarna är ett stort stöd. När det gällerstudiekamrater beskriver några av intervjupersonerna att det till en början funnits enviss distans och exempel på annorlunda behandling i bemötande från dem, men att detoftast blev bättre med tiden. En respondent är idel positiv kring sina upplevelser. Istudien dras slutsatsen att det i dessa kvinnors upplevelser finns både positiva ochnegativa exempel på bemötande från andra. / This study aims to describe the experiences of social treatment of a few women, whowear a head scarf, within the college/university environment. The study examines socialtreatment from teachers as well as from fellow students. To examine this, the study usesqualitative interviews. The results of the interviews showed that the respondents havevery different experiences. A few of the respondents have very negative experiencesconcerning treatment from teachers, others describe the teachers as supportive.Concerning fellow students some of the respondents described how, in the beginning,they were treated with some distance. This however changed, in most cases, as timewent on. One respondent is undividedly positive about her experience. The studyconcludes that there are examples of both positive and negative social treatment in thewomen's experiences.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2015-10-26T13:29:17Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laísa Marra de Paula Cunha Bastos - 2015.pdf: 1622361 bytes, checksum: e1be07e3e8fb2277a0904bb198dc34e9 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2015-10-26T13:31:03Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laísa Marra de Paula Cunha Bastos - 2015.pdf: 1622361 bytes, checksum: e1be07e3e8fb2277a0904bb198dc34e9 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-10-26T13:31:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Laísa Marra de Paula Cunha Bastos - 2015.pdf: 1622361 bytes, checksum: e1be07e3e8fb2277a0904bb198dc34e9 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-31 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The study aims to understand the ways in which best-selling autobiographies by Muslim women are produced. As a representative corpus, the books Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Princess, by Jean Sasson/Sultana; and I am Malala, by Malala Yousafzai/Christina Lamb were selected. Using Pierre Bourdieu's methodology – for whom a literary work should not be studied only by its text, but also by its insertion and circulation in various fields (literary, political, social) – the study conjectures that these narratives of life, since manufactured in the West and founded on the logic of the cultural industry of mass production of popular literature, are presented to the public circumscribed by neo-Orientalist discourses of the clash of civilizations. We refer to the discourses displayed in the post-September 11, 2001, which, reiterating the Orientalist discourse criticized by Edward Said, divided the world into superior West versus inferior Middle East. Therefore, we investigate, in the first chapter, the implications of the discourse of War on Terror to the commercial interest in personal narratives of Muslim women. Furthermore, we describe the corpus of narratives in order to characterize the subgenre of best-selling autobiographies of Muslim women, especially with regard to the dichotomies freedom/oppression, subversion/submission. In the second chapter, we analyse the importance of the autobiographical genre and the concepts of truth and authenticity to the rise of these books, as well as the relations of co-authorship present in such narratives. Then, in the third chapter, the focus is on making visible the editorial voices and their contributions to the spectacularization of the topos of the Muslim woman as a victim to be rescued from her society. To do so, the discourses of the peritext (cover, back cover and tabs) of these autobiographies will be examined. Therefore, we seek to question the limits and possibilities of self-representation of the subaltern subject in contexts marked by inequality of forces and intermediations of the speech. / O trabalho objetiva compreender os modos de produção de autobiografias best-sellers de mulheres muçulmanas. Como corpus representativo, selecionamos os livros Infiel, de Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Princesa, de Jean Sasson/Sultana; e Eu sou Malala, de Malala Yousafzai/Christina Lamb. Usando metodologia de Pierre Bourdieu, para quem uma obra literária não deve ser estudada apenas por seu texto, mas também por sua inserção e circulação nos diversos campos (literário, político, social), parte-se da hipótese de que essas narrativas de vida, uma vez que fabricadas no Ocidente com base nas lógicas da indústria cultural de massa e da literatura de grande produção, são apresentadas ao público circunscritas pelos discursos neoorientalistas do choque de civilizações. Referimo-nos aos discursos veiculados no pós-11 de setembro de 2001, que, reiterando o discurso orientalista criticado por Edward Said, dividiram o mundo em Ocidente superior versus Oriente inferior. Assim sendo, investigam-se, no primeiro capítulo, as implicações dos discursos da Guerra ao Terror para o interesse comercial em narrativas pessoais de mulheres muçulmanas. Além disso, as narrativas do corpus são examinadas no intuito de caracterizar o subgênero de autobiografias best-sellers de mulheres muçulmanas, principalmente no que concerne às dicotomias liberdade/opressão, subversão/submissão. No segundo capítulo, problematizam-se os pressupostos e a importância do gênero autobiográfico e dos conceitos de verdade e autenticidade para a ascensão desses livros, bem como as relações de coautoria presentes em tais narrativas. Depois, no terceiro capítulo, o foco está em tornar visíveis as vozes editoriais e suas contribuições para a espetacularização do topos da mulher muçulmana enquanto vítima a ser resgatada de sua sociedade. Para tanto, serão analisados os discursos peritextuais dessas autobiografias (capa, contracapa e abas). Assim sendo, busca-se problematizar os limites e as possibilidades da auto-representação do sujeito subalterno em contextos marcados pela inequidade de forças e por agenciamentos da fala.

Esta pesquisa se insere no campo dos estudos sobre o mundo muçulmano, tendo como objeto as mulheres muçulmanas e sua presença nos movimentos islamistas, entendidos aqui como movimentos fundamentalistas, cuja ideologia política tem como núcleo a defesa das tradições do Islã e a crítica ao Ocidente. O objetivo central é o de investigar em que medida esses movimentos podem estar contribuindo para (ou obstruindo) uma possível emancipação das mulheres muçulmanas, definida essa emancipação por critérios como autonomia na participação sociopolítica e presença nos espaços públicos. Nesse sentido, a pesquisa propõe-se, na perspectiva da História Social, fazer uma abordagem comparativa entre o Egito e a Turquia, pós-anos 80, estruturando-se em torno de três questões principais: a) O islamismo e seu impacto na vida social e política das mulheres; b) A presença feminina nos movimentos islamistas e c) A modernidade no Islã: a mulher e o islamismo. Trabalhando com as noções de Islã, fundamentalismo, identidade, gênero, feminismo, modernidade e outras, a pesquisa, ao voltar-se para as relações entre mulheres e islamismo, espera contribuir também para o estudo dos processos de modernização das sociedades muçulmanas. / This research inserts in the field of the studies about the Muslim world, having as object the Muslim women and its presence in Islamist movements, understood here as fundamentalist movements whose political ideology is centered defense of the traditions of Islam and in the criticism of West. The main objective is to investigate to what extent these movements may be contributing to (or blocking) a possible emancipation of Muslim women, this emancipation defined by criteria such as autonomy in social and political participation and presence in public spaces. In this sense, the research is proposed from the perspective of social history, making a comparison between Egypt and Turkey, after 80, and is structured around three main issues: a) Islam and its impact on social and politics life of women; b) the presence of women in Islamist movements c) modernity in Islam: Women and Islamism. Working with the notions of Islam, fundamentalism, identity, gender, feminism, modernity and other the research to turn to relations between women and Islamism, also hopes to contribute to the study of the modernization of Muslim societies.

Early in 2003, African Muslims in Uitenhage’s township, Kwa-Nobuhle, learnt that Muslim women, led by Sheikh Nceba Salamntu, in South Africa’s Port Elizabeth New Brighton township, were allowed, contrary to previous practice, to follow a funeral procession right up to the graveyard. The resultant discomfort on the one hand, and excitement on the other caused by this event among Muslims in the township, forms the basis of this research. It gives focus to Muslim women, the ones most affected by their customary restriction from the gravesites. The researchi exposes the basis for women’s exclusion from funeral processions in the Muslim community. It was established that many of these Muslim women who challenged the practice were converts from Christianity to Islam. One of the bases for their action was that they were passive recipients of Islam. Furthermore, it was found that the exclusion of women from the funeral procession has no basis in Islamic writings.

Thesis advisor: Kyrah Daniels / Thesis advisor: Gustavo Morello / In many ways, college campuses represent a microcosm of the world where standards of whiteness are upheld and larger societal issues are recreated. Though American Muslim populations expand each year in the United States, few college campuses provide space for African Muslim women to fully express their spirituality and other aspects of their identities without compromise. This thesis examines how African Muslim women navigate belonging and dis-belonging in college. Additionally, it explores how African Muslim women use their triple consciousness to negotiate between their racial, cultural, religious, and gendered identities. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology. / Discipline: African & African Diaspora Studies.

This thesis examines the first collections of modern Persian literature written by Iranian female authors in the context of a process of gender modernization during the Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi’s reign (1941-1979). This thesis argues that women’s literature written during the period of transition from tradition to modernity is clearly influenced by the state’s gender policy and illustrates the changing position of women’s status in private and public life. Indeed, an examination of the collections of short stories and poems that were produced in this period demonstrates that female authors were concerned with the unveiling policy, arranged marriage and polygamy, women’s education, women’s social participation, women’s domestic obligations, women’s political awakening, and female sexuality. Furthermore, central themes covered by female authors changed significantly based on the transformations of gender politics the society experienced from the 1940s and 1950s to the 1960s and 1970s.