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As part of the South Asia Hub of the Pathways to Women's Empowerment Research Programme, 'Changing Narratives of Sexuality: Trajectories of Desire and the Mediation of Socio-Cultural Spaces' this action research project was designed to examine discursive changes and their impact on women's lives/identities in areas related to (i) religion specifically the global upsurge of religious fundamentalisms and resurgent patriarchies with reference to the rise of Wahabi Islam as a hegemonic discourse, new religious practices and women in Pakistan and (ii) the media, predominantly satellite television, in the wider context of technologies, consumerism and globalization. The project aimed to identify and uncover new pathways and sites of change in the two areas mentioned above by using different methodological techniques. The project was expanded by the Simorgh Lahore Partnership to include traditional religious practices and rituals in the religious component so as to deepen understanding of the processes of change that are underway to see how far they are conducive to women's empowerment and to what extent they merely reformulate and reinforce existing norms regarding women's status and position in society. In the process, it examines the ways in which these factors shape women’s identities and self perception. …

This presentation given by Neelam Hussain to the South Asia Hub Conference held from 26-28 July 2011 in Dhaka, was on research conducted by the Simorgh Women's Resource and Publication Centre, Lahore. The aim of the research on the impact of the media and women's religious gatherings on women's lives in Pakistan was to examine the impact of two seemingly disparate yet interlinked modern day phenomena, namely: the dars (women's religious gatherings) and new technologies, specifically satellite television and the mobile phone. …

There are rising numbers of single women across the Arab world. While this is usually connected with delayed marriage, Palestine shows a unique pattern of early but not universal marriage. This article looks beneath the statistics to investigate the stories behind this trend. How do young unmarried women negotiate boundaries and understand and enact choice in the context of a society experiencing prolonged insecure and warlike conditions, political crisis and social fragmentation and where the high number of unmarried women can be an increasing locus of moral panic? In conducting focus groups with two generations of women, my research looks at the prevailing importance of education, civil society and security in negotiating space within women's lives and uncovers a long tradition of unmarried women leading full and significant lives which needs to be recovered from the past. …

This is a presentation given by Samia Rahim at the Cultural Crossroads Conference held in Hong Kong on 20 June 2010 on research conducted into how women in Bangladesh interacted with television and the media. The research countered dominant discourse which devalues women's relationship with television and in using a wide range of methodologies across a range of research locations uncovered that women do not only use television to accumulate new knowledge, but also strategies, tactics and ways to handle various situations. …

With growing observance of the veil, a rise in faith-based schooling, and the increasing popularity of Islamic television channels, religious activity has come to play a more and more significant part in the lives of women in South Asia. Pathways’ research sought to explore what the changes in the cultural and political landscape signal for women’s understanding of self and their ability to live “freely” in the world. Does religion become all encompassing and stifle women’s sense of self? Or do women find ways to use new idioms to feel empowered? …

Women have always been central to the process of national identity formation in South Asia, and in the contests and contradictions with which such monolithic identity making is, of necessity, faced. It is hoped that the new scholarship will open up new ways of negotiating contested terrains, and will shed new light on the historical and cultural positioning of women in this process. In this article, Azim reviews two books that look at Islam and the politics of being Muslim in Bangladesh. The books concentrate on the construction of Islam or a Muslim polity as well as on the position of women within emerging structures. …

Women have increasingly taken on new roles over the past two decades within Bangladeshi society, occupying positions not previously seen such becoming wage earners. This shift is thought to have been influenced by urban culture and popular media. This case study details research which has sought to explore how media is affecting Bangladeshi women’s lives by shaping their aspirations. …

The research on Media and Women has sought to explore how women in urban and peri‐urban areas in Bangladesh engage with television and attach meaning to images and representations. The research explored the politics of viewing rather than politics of representation; to take that which for long been objectified and turn it into subject. The report outlines the dominant narratives seen by women on television in Bangladesh and describes how women negotiate with other members to watch their preferred programmes on television. The processes of reception and interpretation of women in relation to media narratives has been explored to reveal how television is creating avenues for negotiation and participation, opening up new spaces for women. …

Young women are increasingly experiencing greater visibility and mobility in Bangladeshi society. The new public spaces they occupy together with the more traditional private spaces are greatly mediated by the narratives beamed on television. This article looks at how Bangladeshi women engage with television and the meanings and choices they derive from it. It examines which elements the women choose to adopt and which they discard as being alien to their lifestyles. …

Television in Bangladesh has captured imaginations across economic, socio-cultural and political boundaries. The paper, presented to 'Pathways: What are we Learning?' Analysis Conference, Cairo, 20-24 January 2009, outlines how women in urban areas engage with television and attach meaning to images and representations that may or may not have been addressed to them. The authors’ aim is to trace how the producers of media envision their desired subjects and the multiple ways in which women receive these images and narratives - at times drawing parallels with their own lives, at other times rejecting their messages, and still often being captivated by illusory worlds that have little resemblance to their own. It is this crossing between reality and fantasy that the television offers that the paper will seek to elaborate. …

The Changing Focus photography competition invited local photographers to visually present their visions of the exchanges between women and their communities and to capture their representations of women’s empowerment and agency. The project addressed a Pathways commitment to working with various modes of communication in an effort to grasp a broader and fuller idea of how women experience empowerment in their local contexts. …

We examine the discursive changes that are taking place in areas related to the media, predominantly satellite television and religion, viz the global upsurge of religious fundamentalisms and resurgent patriarchies in Pakistan, in the wider context of new technologies, consumerism and globalisation. We have identified and attempt to grant visibility to new pathways and sites of change in the area of media and religion and women’s empowerment. …

This project sought to explore and understand the ways in which women are represented in different music genres, and by different artistes over the period 1970 to date. The researchers examined the main themes about women in the song lyrics, both explicit and implicit, focusing on narratives of women's bodies and their roles as workers, providers and caregivers. …

The special journal issue sprung out of a special panel at the IACS 2009 Tokyo Conference. The panel, entitled ‘Women Negotiating Islam’ had looked at how women in different locations cope with the ways that religion, either as politics or as culture, enters their lives. …

This special issue of 'Development' picks up some of the contentions and contestations that have accompanied the uptake of 'women's empowerment' by the development industry. Contributors reflect on their own personal and political engagement with the term and what it has come to represent. …