Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GlAntiFem (Globalizing Anti-Feminism: A Phenomenology of Transnational Networks of Islamic Women Organizations)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2020-09-01 al 2022-08-31
The overall objective of GlAntiFem is to understand critical Muslim discourses on feminism, the emerging transnational networks of Islamic women organizations in the Middle East, and their stance to international conventions, particularly those related to on women and family.
Through a study of contemporary discourse and praxis of women activists and organizations that advocate for a non-feminist approach, it addresses:
• 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 initiatives related to women and family issues.
Seemingly emerging 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. As countries worldwide seek to fulfil the UN Sustainability Goals by 2030, examining their counter-discourse and how it relates to their local contexts will be vital to understand both their potential affects towards reaching these goals, and how these goals are received by an important segment of the society in the Middle East.
Through a study of contemporary discourse and praxis of women activists and organizations that advocate for a non-feminist approach, it addresses:
• 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 initiatives related to women and family issues.
Seemingly emerging 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. As countries worldwide seek to fulfil the UN Sustainability Goals by 2030, examining their counter-discourse and how it relates to their local contexts will be vital to understand both their potential affects towards reaching these goals, and how these goals are received by an important segment of the society in the Middle East.
Literature review: interdisciplinary reading, covering scholarship within political science, social science, anthropology, history, development studies and Islamic studies.
Data collection and fieldwork: Primary resources (i.e. interviews, reports, statistics) collected online, in archives and from Islamic organizations during my fieldworks.
Teaching: assisting my mentor in a teaching course.
Dissemination/communication and exploitation activities: Participation in research groups and academic networks, workshops, and conferences.
New and more complex insights into the phenomena have been achieved, in which some of my theories have been confirmed while other have been complicated.
New hypotheses have been developed, which may lay the foundation for further research.
The project has led to the establishment of new networks and cooperation with scholars, research groups and policy makers. This in turn has facilitated the diffusion of knowledge about my research to a wider public, including students, research communities across disciplines, and policy makers.
Data collection and fieldwork: Primary resources (i.e. interviews, reports, statistics) collected online, in archives and from Islamic organizations during my fieldworks.
Teaching: assisting my mentor in a teaching course.
Dissemination/communication and exploitation activities: Participation in research groups and academic networks, workshops, and conferences.
New and more complex insights into the phenomena have been achieved, in which some of my theories have been confirmed while other have been complicated.
New hypotheses have been developed, which may lay the foundation for further research.
The project has led to the establishment of new networks and cooperation with scholars, research groups and policy makers. This in turn has facilitated the diffusion of knowledge about my research to a wider public, including students, research communities across disciplines, and policy makers.
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 also 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 also 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.