Muslim Women, Transnational Feminism, and the Ethics of Pedagogy

Abstract

The asphyxiation of subaltern voices and the disregard of Arab and Muslim women’s subjectivities in the cultural sphere of the post-9/11 era is the main problematic addressed by this collection. With the editorship of Lisa K. Taylor and Jasmin Zine, and based on the legacy of post-colonial writers like Gayatri Spivak and Paulo Friere, this collection foregrounds how Orientalism operates on the ground and discusses how we can come up with new discursive tools and spaces for articulations of difference and diversity and for “reading back” to resist the Empire. Critical public pedagogy is both the main objective and the main analytical tool in unmaking the epistemic frameworks of western imperialism, Orientalism, and patriarchy. The articles take up different stories to expose how racist, patriarchal, imperialist, and neo-Orientalist legacies cooperate with western feminism in the public and cultural realms and determine the forms of representation and modalities of agency that Muslim and Arab women can claim. Presenting examples from South Asia to North America to the Middle East through various cultural media (e.g., literature, the visual arts, film, and performance art), this volume contributes to studies in critical pedagogy, transnational feminism, and cultural and Islamic studies. It addresses an audience that ranges from academics and students to artists and public pedagogues ...