Islam, Gender, and Social Change (Meridian) - Softcover

Haddad, Esposito

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195113578 ISBN 13: 9780195113570

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1997

Synopsis

For several decades, the Muslim world has experienced a religious resurgence. The reassertion of Islam in personal and political life has taken many forms, from greater attention to religious practice to the emergence of Islamic organizations, movements, and institutions. One of the most controversial and emotionally charged aspects of this revival has been its effect on women in Muslim societies.
The essays collected in this book place this issue in its historical context and offer case studies of Muslim societies from North Africa to Southeast Asia. These fascinating studies shed light on the impact of the Islamic resurgence on gender issues in Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Oman, Bahrain, the Philippines, and Kuwait. Taken together, the essays reveal the wide variety that exists among Muslim societies and believers, and the complexity of the issues under consideration. They show that new things are happening for women across the Islamic world, and are in many cases being initiated by women themselves. The volume as a whole militates against the stereotype of Muslim women as repressed, passive, and without initiative, while acknowledging the very real obstacles to women's initiatives in most of these societies.

About this title

About the Author:

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is Professor of Islamic History at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She is co-author with Adair T. Lummis, of Islamic Values in the United States: A Comparative Study and editor of The Muslims of America. John Esposito is Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. He has authored and edited numerous volumes on Islam.

Review:

"This collection of well researched and nuanced case studies on gender and social change in Muslim countries is a needed and welcome addition to the recently more balanced scholarship in the field....Hahhad and Esposito have brought together a rich collection of...reports that contribute to
the understanding of the complex question of gender and change in Islam and Muslim societies by students and specialists alike."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion

"...a great text....The case studies provide an interesting way to examine social change and cultural relativity."--L. Friedrich, Simpson College

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0195113578
• ISBN 13: 9780195113570
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288