Gender, Religion and Change in the Middle East: Two Hundred Years of History

Description

The complicated link between women and religion in the Middle East has been a source of debate for centuries, and has special resonance today. Whether religion reinforces female oppression or provides opportunities for women - or a combination of both - depends on time, place and circumstance. This book seeks to contextualize women's roles within their religious traditions rather than through the lens of a dominant culture. Gender, Religion and Change in the Middle East crosses boundaries and borders, and will appeal to a global audience. This book provides a comprehensive survey of women in Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities in the Middle East during the last two centuries. The authors consider women's defined roles within these religious communities, as well as exploring how women themselves develop and apply their own strategies within religious societies. The wide-ranging accounts draw on case studies from Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon since 1800. Throughout, the authors challenge our understanding of patriarchy to offer a more nuanced account. Taking a balanced look at the issues of religion, gender and change in the Middle East, this unique interdisciplinary study gives new insight to the theme of women and religion in the Middle East.

Inger Marie Okkenhaug is a researcher in the Department of History, University of Bergen, Norway. Ingvild Flaskerud is a researcher in the Department of Religious Studies, University of Troms, Norway.

'Gender, Religion and Change offers an outstanding, original, and unified approach to understanding how Muslim, Christian, and Jewish practices and perspectives on gender and religion have intersected in the Middle East in the past two centuries and today. Comprehensive and accessible to students, scholars, and general readers alike, this book is essential reading.' Dale F. Eickelman, Dartmouth College 'With current perceptions and obsessions about the Middle East and Islam, there is a real need for books like this one, which details the changing mosaic of religious communities and gender roles in the region.' Judy Mabro, author of Veiled Half Truths: Western Travellers' Perceptions of Middle Eastern Women