Secularism, Feminism, and the Public Sphere (original) (raw)
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Final 13 Feb 2019_Contestations of Feminism, Secularism and Religion_NJRS.docx
equality. Yet, contemporary feminist and women's movements in the West are largely understood as secular, and as rejecting religion, and religion is often perceived as the antithesis of empowerment and emancipation. In this article I problematise the relationship between feminism, secularism and religion via a discussion of secular feminist views on women and religion, and religious women's views on secular feminism. Bringing together previously separate strands of work, this article provides an original analysis of how both secular feminist women and non-feminist religious women engage in discursive articulations of Othering, constructing inferior subjects who are (dis-)placed outside the boundary of 'women like us'. Such discursive representations, which are rooted in perceptions of feminism and religion as unitary and static, contribute to the construction and maintenance of sharp boundaries between secular and religious women, thus hindering the potential for dialogue and collaboration in support of women's rights and gender equality.
Gender: Religion, Secularism, and Women’s Empowerment
Religion and European Society: A Primer, 2019
This chapter argues that the ways of opposing religion and secularity in relation to gender produce forms of polarization between religious and secular actors that are undesirable and stand in the way of perceiving and hearing what women may need. It outlines how and why religious and secular approaches to issues of gender and women's empowerment so often seem to clash and sketches some of the critiques that have been articulated by feminist scholars from within cultural anthropology, history, and religious studies. The chapter focuses on the European context, and on religion in its association with minority groups, since this is where religion is usually problematized in relation to gender and sexuality. The complexity of minority–majority relations, and the ways this is informed by gender and religion, is often a minefield for policymakers on all levels of society.
London: Routledge, 2014
This volume makes a substantial contribution to deepening understanding of the gender dimensions of the renewed significance of "religion" as a political, social and cultural force in the 21 st century. In particular, it addresses long-standing tensions between the claims of gender equality and human rights on the one side, and the claims of religion and religious identity on the other. In recent years, these issues have played out perhaps most clearly through the "veil debates" prominent in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. These form part of a new pattern of religion-inflected ways of expressing conflict evident in relations between dominant cultural groups (e.g., Christian or "secular") and minority groups (usually Muslim), vis-à-vis the articulation of national identity and belonging. In Europe, arguments for the regulation of the "Muslim headscarf" in public settings have relied on a priori assumptions about the subordinate status of Muslim women within their communities in contrast to supposedly empowered European women. These debates are a reminder of the deep interrelation of questions of gender, "race", identity, human rights and religious freedom more generally. While recognizing the importance of the "veil debates," a key objective of this collection has been to extend the horizon of enquiry vis-à-vis religion, gender and the public sphere beyond the binary of "Islam versus the West."
Nordic Journal of Religion and Society
Secular and religious women have a history of fighting for women's rights and gender equality. Yet, contemporary feminist and women's movements in the West are largely understood as secular, and as rejecting religion, and religion is often perceived as the antithesis of empowerment and emancipation. In this article I problematise the relationship between feminism, secularism and religion via a discussion of secular feminist views on women and religion, and religious women's views on secular feminism. Bringing together previously separate strands of work, this article provides an original analysis of how both secular feminist women and non-feminist religious women engage in discursive articulations of Othering, constructing inferior subjects who are (dis-)placed outside the boundary of 'women like us'. Such discursive representations, which are rooted in perceptions of feminism and religion as unitary and static, contribute to the construction and maintenance of sharp boundaries between secular and religious women, thus hindering the potential for dialogue and collaboration in support of women's rights and gender equality.
Rethinking Secularism, Rethinking Religiosity; Post-Secular Implications for Gender and Development
The recent resurgence of religion within global culture and politics poses a challenge to the dominant narratives of modernisation and secularisation that have shaped the social sciences since the postwar period. This paper will argue that rethinking secularism, and deconstructing secular conceptions of religion, may have important implications for the way in which ideas of development and parallel quests for emancipation and gender equality are defined and enacted within and across societies. This essay will begin by providing a critical analysis of contemporary secularism, drawing from the critiques of post-enlightenment and other prominent critical schools of thought. The implications of a renewed understanding of secularism will then be discussed in relation to recent attempts to incorporate religion within the development discourse.
2011
The book aims to assess how women’s ways of understanding and experiencing religiosity fit within the broader context of religion in ‘the West,’ and, in particular, how the analyses of female religiosities inform our understanding on secularisation. By exploring diverse ways in which women approach religion in ‘the West,’ the volume scrutinises female religiosities in an interdisciplinary gaze. The book has been divided into three main sections. The first, deals with Christianity, the second with ‘Alternative Spiritualities,’ and the third, with Islam.