Women and religion: contemporary and future challenges: editors’ introduction
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Elisabetta Ruspini
Abstract
This introductory chapter discusses the relationship between social change, religion, and women’s lives and self-definition in the contemporary world. Using international and interdisciplinary perspectives reflective of different religious traditions, this volume pays attention to the specific experiences and positions of women, or particular groups of women, to understand current patterns of religiosity and religious change. Recent studies have shown that there is a strong connection between processes of change — such as the impact of globalization, increased intercultural and transcultural interaction and exchange, migration flows, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) — and religious identities. Overall, recent literature has revealed a great complexity and often contradiction in late modern negotiations of religion and secularism by women and men, and a range of possibilities for change.
Abstract
This introductory chapter discusses the relationship between social change, religion, and women’s lives and self-definition in the contemporary world. Using international and interdisciplinary perspectives reflective of different religious traditions, this volume pays attention to the specific experiences and positions of women, or particular groups of women, to understand current patterns of religiosity and religious change. Recent studies have shown that there is a strong connection between processes of change — such as the impact of globalization, increased intercultural and transcultural interaction and exchange, migration flows, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) — and religious identities. Overall, recent literature has revealed a great complexity and often contradiction in late modern negotiations of religion and secularism by women and men, and a range of possibilities for change.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures, tables and appendices v
- Notes on contributors vi
- Women and religion: contemporary and future challenges: editors’ introduction 1
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Women, gender equality and religion between past and present
- Gender equality in different readings of Islam in post-revolutionary Iran 21
- Religion and gender equality in Catholic Philippines: discourses and practices in the 21st century 41
- A slow march forward: the impact of religious change on gender ideology in the contemporary United States 59
- Divine shadows: Indian Devadasis between religious beliefs and sexual exploitation 79
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Identities, women’s movements and religion
- Formation of ‘religious’ identity among British Muslim women 95
- Christian women’s movements in secularizing and diversifying contexts: a case study from Belgium 117
- Muslim women in contemporary Argentina 135
- The impact of religious unorthodoxy on family choices and women’s well-being in Turkey 157
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Contemporary women’s religious experiences
- ‘Between me and my God’: a life story narrative of conciliating cultural discourses and personalization of Islam 175
- ‘We are all Goddesses’: female sacred paths in Italy 191
- Explorations of spiritual embodiment in belly dance 207
- From exclusion to inclusion: women and interfaith dialogue in the Mediterranean area 221
- Index 237
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- List of figures, tables and appendices v
- Notes on contributors vi
- Women and religion: contemporary and future challenges: editors’ introduction 1
-
Women, gender equality and religion between past and present
- Gender equality in different readings of Islam in post-revolutionary Iran 21
- Religion and gender equality in Catholic Philippines: discourses and practices in the 21st century 41
- A slow march forward: the impact of religious change on gender ideology in the contemporary United States 59
- Divine shadows: Indian Devadasis between religious beliefs and sexual exploitation 79
-
Identities, women’s movements and religion
- Formation of ‘religious’ identity among British Muslim women 95
- Christian women’s movements in secularizing and diversifying contexts: a case study from Belgium 117
- Muslim women in contemporary Argentina 135
- The impact of religious unorthodoxy on family choices and women’s well-being in Turkey 157
-
Contemporary women’s religious experiences
- ‘Between me and my God’: a life story narrative of conciliating cultural discourses and personalization of Islam 175
- ‘We are all Goddesses’: female sacred paths in Italy 191
- Explorations of spiritual embodiment in belly dance 207
- From exclusion to inclusion: women and interfaith dialogue in the Mediterranean area 221
- Index 237
