Islam and Feminisms: An Iranian Case-study (Women's Studies at York/Macmillan) Book

As feminism matures and ethnocentric views mellow it has become easier to gain a better understanding of different positioning of women of different views and ideologies. It is no longer possible to disregard the strategies of Islamist women and denigrate them under the derogatory category of fundamentalism. This volume seeks to move away from the oppositional positions taken by Western and Muslim women and provide a clear understanding of the possibilities and the limits that the process of reconstruction and reinterpretation of Islamic dictum can and does present for progress of women in Islamist countries. It is the contentions of this author that women the world over seek similar goals and face similar problems, but specific circumstances and specific constraints dictate differing priorities and differing approaches in different contexts. If feminism is to return to a universalist position then it must gain an understanding of these differences. This volume seeks to provide a step in the right direction by looking at the recent decades of struggles by Islamist women in that country in pursuit of common goals.Read More