About book Politics Of Piety: The Islamic Revival And The Feminist Subject (2004)
Saba Mahmood's ethnographic account of the Women's Mosque movement in Egypt is quite an enlightening read. She poses some very interesting questions. She hopes “This attempt at comprehension offers the slim hope that in this embattled and imperious climate…analysis as a mode of conversation, rather than mastery, can yield a vision of coexistence that does not require making other lifeworlds extinct or provisional.” Her project is situated in a particular point in history (after September 11)where Western intrusion in other parts of the world is justified also as a means to save the Muslim woman from the Muslim man. However, Mahmood wonders why so many women choose to align themselves to a movement which supposedly oppresses them. Especially at a point where Muslim women have other options. Mahmood concludes that the trouble lies in the way agency and freedom is often defined by liberal feminism. While some see certain Islamic practices as oppressive, others recognize these preferences (of modesty and veiling) as women's choices. She questions the simplistic differentiation of resistance and repression. As mentioned before, veiling has either been criticized as oppressive. Or as choice. The choice is often explained as one of convenience(in a space where sexual harassment is widespread) or as resistance to western hegemony. Mahmood argues that there could be other reasons as well. Mahmood brings in piety as an important aspect of these women's lives. According to Mahmood, bringing in piety into analysis renders the other analytical frames put forward by liberal feminism as inadequate. For these women, achieving their potential as pious individuals is more critical than gender equality. Through examples, Mahmood demonstrates how women stand up against their husbands when they discourage their religious activities. While feminists may recognize this as resistance to gender inequality, Mahmood argues that for these women, it was more about achieving their potential as pious individuals. Moreover, by providing the wide range of interpretations among women teachers, Mahmood also demolishes any notion of a uniform Muslim woman even within the mosque movement. While her intention to enable a discussion rather than allow for a "savior" perspective is commendable, some aspects continued to trouble me. This review articulates my dilemma quite well. http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/... As Selim says in this review, neither liberal feminism nor Islamic religiosity is a natural instinct. Both are results of a political movement which seeks to achieve an outcome. Selim says, "Mahmood’s argument for scholarly neutrality in the name of a postmodern cultural relativism becomes quite problematic, for it obscures an ongoing political struggle and forecloses the possibility of active commitments and solidarities; of “taking sides,” so to speak." The book and this review has not put my dilemma to rest. And I guess, with that Mahmood has achieved her goal of beginning the conversation. In that respect, this book does achieve its objective :)
An interesting ethnographic study on the women's piety movement in Egypt, and analysis of how prevalent political notions such as "agency" (which often shows in up discussions of feminist politics) need to be revisited in light of examples where the actors do not seek to subvert a patriarchal norm. There is also an examination of the process of religious pedagogy that the movement emphasized (the practise of actions to cultivate personal piety - ie. prayer, veiling, cultivation of virtues, participation in da'wa), and the meaning of the acts to the women themselves - to look at the process of subject formation. Finally Mahmood's work also question whether the prescriptive needs of secular-liberal academic fields such as feminist politics (ie. needs to advance a specific agenda) sometimes affect their ability to correctly assess cases. At worst, these fields unwittingly aid in the agendas of imperialist projects. "Consider how the Feminist Majority's international campaign against the Taliban regime was an essential element in the Bush administration's attempt to establish legitimacy for the bombing of Afghanistan - aptly called 'Operation Enduring Freedom'. It was the burka-clad body of the Afghan woman - and *not* the destruction wrought by twenty years of war funded by the United States through one of the largest covert operations in American history - that served as the primary referent in the Feminist Majority's vast mobilization against the Taliban regime (and later the Bush administration's war)."
Do You like book Politics Of Piety: The Islamic Revival And The Feminist Subject (2004)?
A really interesting approach to feminist discourse and ethnocentric ideals that run throughout feminist anthropology. Mahmood writes wonderfully about how we may shift our understanding of female agency in Islamic society, and the ways in which our views on certain practices, such as veiling, need to be re-worked.Although I did enjoy this ethnography and the many insights it offers, I did find it difficult to fully engage with due to the complex theory discussed throughout. Further study of the book is definitely required to fully grasp the many ideas Mahmood put forward.
—Nadia
