Periodic Reporting for period 2 - GlAntiFem (Globalizing Anti-Feminism: A Phenomenology of Transnational Networks of Islamic Women Organizations)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-09-01 bis 2023-08-31
The overall objective of GlAntiFem has been to gain groundbreaking knowledge on the phenomenon of transnational networks of Islamic women organizations in the Middle East. It has sought to understand their emergence, their discourses on feminism, and their stances towards international conventions, particularly those related to women and family.
Through a study of contemporary discourse and praxis of women activists and organizations that advocate for a non-feminist approach, it has addressed:
• the relationship that the non-feminist Islamic paradigm has with feminist counterparts;
• the emancipatory project that non-feminist Islamic women advocacy espouses on women and family issues;
• the institutionalization processes of non-feminist Islamic women organizations and their transnational networks; and
• the specific activities that Islamic women organizations engage in to impact international conventions and UN policies on women, family and development.
GlAntiFem’s overarching question "How can we understand the phenomenon of transnational networks of Islamic women groups and organizations?" was sought out through three main objectives:
1) An analysis of the historical genesis and epistemology of the anti-feminist paradigm and its relationship with feminist currents in the Arab-Muslim world.
2) An investigation of the counter-discourse of anti-feminism in terms of power modalities and the reconfiguration of knowledge on women emancipation.
3) Mapping of the transnational networks of anti-feminist organizations and their mobilization locally and globally.
Emerging merging during the 1990s, the phenomenon of such transnational Islamic networks is relatively recent and has yet to receive its due attention in the current scholarship. To illustrate the potentials of their mobilization and the specific critique against the UN, this project has paid special attention to the opposition against the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. The analysis of the critique of the Agenda has provided a unique insight into how non-state actors contest the UN, including the political circumstances that prevented this critique from gaining a larger momentum after 2016.
Through a study of contemporary discourse and praxis of women activists and organizations that advocate for a non-feminist approach, it has addressed:
• the relationship that the non-feminist Islamic paradigm has with feminist counterparts;
• the emancipatory project that non-feminist Islamic women advocacy espouses on women and family issues;
• the institutionalization processes of non-feminist Islamic women organizations and their transnational networks; and
• the specific activities that Islamic women organizations engage in to impact international conventions and UN policies on women, family and development.
GlAntiFem’s overarching question "How can we understand the phenomenon of transnational networks of Islamic women groups and organizations?" was sought out through three main objectives:
1) An analysis of the historical genesis and epistemology of the anti-feminist paradigm and its relationship with feminist currents in the Arab-Muslim world.
2) An investigation of the counter-discourse of anti-feminism in terms of power modalities and the reconfiguration of knowledge on women emancipation.
3) Mapping of the transnational networks of anti-feminist organizations and their mobilization locally and globally.
Emerging merging during the 1990s, the phenomenon of such transnational Islamic networks is relatively recent and has yet to receive its due attention in the current scholarship. To illustrate the potentials of their mobilization and the specific critique against the UN, this project has paid special attention to the opposition against the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. The analysis of the critique of the Agenda has provided a unique insight into how non-state actors contest the UN, including the political circumstances that prevented this critique from gaining a larger momentum after 2016.
Management (WP1): Managing the project, making necessary adjustments.
Literature Review (WP2): Analysing primary sources and scholarship in Arabic (and to some extent Turkish) and comparing them with relevant scholarship in English.
Data Collection (WP3): Collecting primary sources during my fieldworks at different Islamic centres, in local libraries and bookshops, and through online databases.
Fieldwork (WP4): Preparing and carrying out fieldworks and interviews in Jeddah, Riyadh, Istanbul, Cairo, Mansura and Doha.
Dissemination, exploitation, and communication activities (WP5): Communicating my work to research communities, stakeholders and the overall public through academic networks, workshops, conferences, and public outlets like webinar, radio, and social media.
Results:
The project has successfully gained a complex insight into the phenomenon of transnational networks of Islamic women.
The first objective has addressed the pressing need for knowledge in the current state of art in terms of anti-feminism’s longer history and relationship with other feminisms in the Middle East.
The second objective has identifying various ways that anti-feminism as a counter-discourse operates as a power modality.
The third objective has led to groundbreaking empirical knowledge on the landscape of transnational Islamic women networks and their local and global mobilization.
GlAntiFem has resulted in the submission of several scientific works that will be published in scientific journals and in academic publishing houses. The findings have been exploited and disseminated through academic networks, workshops, conferences, and public outlets like webinar, radio, and social media.
Literature Review (WP2): Analysing primary sources and scholarship in Arabic (and to some extent Turkish) and comparing them with relevant scholarship in English.
Data Collection (WP3): Collecting primary sources during my fieldworks at different Islamic centres, in local libraries and bookshops, and through online databases.
Fieldwork (WP4): Preparing and carrying out fieldworks and interviews in Jeddah, Riyadh, Istanbul, Cairo, Mansura and Doha.
Dissemination, exploitation, and communication activities (WP5): Communicating my work to research communities, stakeholders and the overall public through academic networks, workshops, conferences, and public outlets like webinar, radio, and social media.
Results:
The project has successfully gained a complex insight into the phenomenon of transnational networks of Islamic women.
The first objective has addressed the pressing need for knowledge in the current state of art in terms of anti-feminism’s longer history and relationship with other feminisms in the Middle East.
The second objective has identifying various ways that anti-feminism as a counter-discourse operates as a power modality.
The third objective has led to groundbreaking empirical knowledge on the landscape of transnational Islamic women networks and their local and global mobilization.
GlAntiFem has resulted in the submission of several scientific works that will be published in scientific journals and in academic publishing houses. The findings have been exploited and disseminated through academic networks, workshops, conferences, and public outlets like webinar, radio, and social media.
The interdisciplinary approach of the project has led to innovative perspectives, which build on and challenge existing literature, as well as bring in new knowledge of a phenomena that is yet to be studied. It is expected that this will lead to a rethinking of such phenomena in current scholarship.
Through the dissemination and exploitation of the project’s results to both academic and non-academic institutions and policy makers, it has the potential of impacting regional and global policy making. It is also expected that the research will result in new and more nuanced perspectives beyond dichotomous understandings that can inform the overall public and prevent further polarizations.
Through the dissemination and exploitation of the project’s results to both academic and non-academic institutions and policy makers, it has the potential of impacting regional and global policy making. It is also expected that the research will result in new and more nuanced perspectives beyond dichotomous understandings that can inform the overall public and prevent further polarizations.