Pathways
Women and Religion in Bangladesh
2014 - 2014
Lead Researchers: Samia Huq , Neelam Hussain
This research looked at resurgent Islam and its influence on the formation of female identities and sexualities in Bangladesh. The aim was to see whether the new forms of Islam in fact open up new spaces thereby ‘permitting’ women greater sexual rights than has been popularly perceived, and what might be learnt by the secular women’s movement from women’s organising in these new spaces.
Resources For This Project
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Islam In Urban Bangladesh: Between Negotiation And Appropriation
In the past two decades, women en route to places of work and education have become a very visible part of the urban landscape. In the past five to seven years, women’s active engagement with religion via taleem groups has also left its mark on the public space through, among other things, the proliferation of the hijab - the covering of the head. In light of the new spaces that have opened up for women, this paper, presented to 'Pathways: What are we Learning?', Analysis Conference, Cairo, 20-24 January 2009 explores what it means for these women - the factory worker, the student and the taleem participant to be Muslim. It investigates what it means for these women to have faith, and how they negotiate the performance of rituals. …
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Nari O Dhormo: Akti Poribortonsheel Shomporko
This report focuses on a project which looks at resurgent Islam and its influence on the formation of female identities and sexualities. The researchers explore the ways in which women in their daily lives engage with religious tenets and observance, focusing on new forms of religious organization and the appeal it has for women of various classes. …
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Religion And Women's Empowerment Workshop Notes
This is a note of a workshop held from 10-12 April 2007 in Dhaka on Religion and Women's Empowerment. The aim of the workshop was to understand how religion is experienced in everyday lives among women of various classes in Bangladesh and Pakistan, and learn how women are using interpretations of Islam to empower themselves. …
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Women And Religion In Bangladesh: New Paths
In south Asia as elsewhere in the world, religion has come to play an increasing role in shaping and reshaping women’s lives. This process is a particular challenge to people like Firdous Azim, a feminist who “grew up” intellectually and politically via involvement in the women’s movement of the 1980s in Bangladesh. The activism of that period was explicitly secular; its main priorities were the issues of rights, inequalities and violence prevalent in a young state which had achieved independence only in 1971. Firdous Azim is professor in the department of English and the humanities at BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. …