Overview

In the early 1970s, accompanying the current wave of globalization, conservative nationalist religious movements began using religion to oppose non-democratic and often Western oriented regimes. Reasserting patriarchal gender relations presumably authorized by religion has been central to these movements. At the Fourth United Nations Congress on Women in Beijing in 1995, Muslim and Catholic delegations from diverse countries united to oppose provisions on sexuality, reproductive rights, women s health, and women s rights as human rights. Scholars from eight different Muslim and Catholic communities analyze the political strategies that women are employing in these contexts ranging from acceptance of traditional doctrines to various forms of resistance, religious reinterpretation, innovation, and political action toward change and equal rights.

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9780312228125

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Reviews

Bayes and Tohidi have brilliantly analyzed the new and important phenomenon of international cooperation between conservative Muslims and Catholics on questions relating to women and gender. They have edited a highly useful and informative collection of articles on Catholic and Muslim women in many parts of the world today. --Nikki Keddie, UCLA This is a volume of great timeliness and importance. Jane H. Bayes and Nayereh Tohidi have recognized the emerging global political alliance between representatives of authoritarian fundamentalisms who make religion the basis of their authority and for whom the attack on women's civil and sexual equality is the central testing ground. This alliance cuts across East and West, North and South. The primary players in this alliance are conservative Muslims and Catholics (especially the Vatican), with progressive Muslims and Catholic NGOs organized on the other side. It is a conflict that has been played out in social policy assemblies of the United Nations, but which reflects a deeper clash of cultures within rather than between regions of the world. This is a must book for those who wish to understand how gender and religion configure the global conflict of cultures today. --Rosemary Radford Ruether, Georgia Harkness Professor of Applied Theology at Garrett Theological Seminary

Author Information

Jane Bayes is Professor of Political Science, California State University, Northridge. She teaches in the areas of women and politics and political economy. Nayereh Tohidi is Assistant Professor of Women's Studies, California State University, Northridge. She teaches in the area of sociology of gender and social change in Muslim societies.

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