Muslim Women, Transnational Feminism, and the Ethics of Pedagogy

Abstract

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