Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East

While much of the literature related to women and democratization in the Middle East neglects the role of women in this process, Wanda Krause persuasively argues that the grassroots activism of Middle Eastern women plays a vital role in democratizing the region. Krause contends that this scholarly...

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Autor principal: Turan Kayaoglu
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2013
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/7fc81e02683248fda041141353f04d7c
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:7fc81e02683248fda041141353f04d7c2021-12-02T17:49:34ZCivil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East10.35632/ajis.v30i2.11342690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/7fc81e02683248fda041141353f04d7c2013-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1134https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 While much of the literature related to women and democratization in the Middle East neglects the role of women in this process, Wanda Krause persuasively argues that the grassroots activism of Middle Eastern women plays a vital role in democratizing the region. Krause contends that this scholarly neglect is a result of the literature’s (1) prioritizing the state (over civil society) and secularism (over religious groups), (2) ignoring the feminine (at the expense of the feminist) and the practical (at the expense of the political), and (3) relegating women’s concerns, like family issues, to “the private sphere and overlooked as having any meaning to the public” (p. 49). She further criticizes this literature for what she considers its orientalist attitude, which often manifests itself as excessive attention to women’s dress, segregation, polygamy, and female genital mutilation (FGM) and thus constructs a passive and oppressed image of Muslim women. To fully understand the role of Middle Eastern women, Krause urges scholars to focus not just on the government’s formal structures, but also to pay attention to civil society and investigate how beliefs, values, and everyday practices both expand it and advance democratic values ... Turan KayaogluInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 30, Iss 2 (2013)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Turan Kayaoglu
Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East
description While much of the literature related to women and democratization in the Middle East neglects the role of women in this process, Wanda Krause persuasively argues that the grassroots activism of Middle Eastern women plays a vital role in democratizing the region. Krause contends that this scholarly neglect is a result of the literature’s (1) prioritizing the state (over civil society) and secularism (over religious groups), (2) ignoring the feminine (at the expense of the feminist) and the practical (at the expense of the political), and (3) relegating women’s concerns, like family issues, to “the private sphere and overlooked as having any meaning to the public” (p. 49). She further criticizes this literature for what she considers its orientalist attitude, which often manifests itself as excessive attention to women’s dress, segregation, polygamy, and female genital mutilation (FGM) and thus constructs a passive and oppressed image of Muslim women. To fully understand the role of Middle Eastern women, Krause urges scholars to focus not just on the government’s formal structures, but also to pay attention to civil society and investigate how beliefs, values, and everyday practices both expand it and advance democratic values ...
format article
author Turan Kayaoglu
author_facet Turan Kayaoglu
author_sort Turan Kayaoglu
title Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East
title_short Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East
title_full Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East
title_fullStr Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East
title_full_unstemmed Civil Society and Women Activists in the Middle East
title_sort civil society and women activists in the middle east
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2013
url https://doaj.org/article/7fc81e02683248fda041141353f04d7c
work_keys_str_mv AT turankayaoglu civilsocietyandwomenactivistsinthemiddleeast
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