Binary Framings, Islam and Struggle for Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh
This paper draws on primary research with women in religious political parties and women’s movement actors and newspaper reports
Abstract
In this paper, the author investigate how binary framings of women’s identity have influenced struggles for women’s rights and the interpretations of the relationship between Islam and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. These binary framings position women at opposite ends by dividing them between ‘Muslim/religious/moral/authentic/traditional’ or ‘Bengali/ secular/immoral/Westernised/ modern’. The author traces the particular genealogies of these binary constructs which emerged during specific historical junctures and are influenced by the shifts in regional and international politics. Drawing on primary research with women in religious political parties and women’s movement actors and newspaper reports, she provide an account of how binary framings have been used by the Islamist actors and the counter framings used by the feminists to make claims over the state. She show how these framings have influenced the politics of representation of gender equality concerns, and reflect on what this means for possibilities of women’s empowerment and strategies for resistance.
This work is part of the Action for Empowerment and Accountability (A4EA) programme
Citation
Nazneen, S. (2018). Binary Framings, Islam and Struggle for Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh. Feminist Dissent, (3), 194-230
Link
Binary Framings, Islam and Struggle for Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh