ARTICLE: "Women in Islamist Movements: Toward an Islamist Model of Women’s Activism"

Cet article de Marina Ottaway et Omayma Abdellatif est intitulé: "Women in Islamist Movements: To ward an Islamist Model of Women's Activism" est une contribution récente du Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A travers différents examples, les auteurs montrent que la participation féminine dans les mouvements islamistes dans le monde arabe va en s'accroissant. Cette présence de femmes islamistes pourraient alors donner lieu à un vaste mouvement en faveur des droits des femmes.

En voici la présentation synthétisée:

Through interviews and conversations with women belonging to Lebanon’s Hizballah, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, and other Islamist organizations across numerous Arab nations, the authors found an energetic debate among women activists on their newfound role as political actors.

Key findings:

• Islamist women are concerned with the preservation of Islamist values, and as such, deny that they are embracing a Western-style feminist agenda, which they consider a rejection of women’s obligations to family and community. They do, however, display increased dissatisfaction with their position in Islamist movements, and wish to be seen as potential leaders, not just foot soldiers.
• Islamist movements have depended on women to reach out to all segments of the population, leading to successful engagement in political tasks such as election campaigning, mobilizing members, and electoral monitoring. As women became active in these movements, they became increasingly aware of their importance and began petitioning for more significant roles as political actors.
• Islamist women argue that Islamic precepts originally did not aim to subjugate women, but were distorted by social and cultural norms that antedated Islam. In this view, the struggle for women’s rights is a struggle to restore Islam to its original form.

Pour lire l'article en anglais:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cmec2_women_in_islam_final1.pdf
Pour lire l'article en arabe:
http://www.carnegieendowment.org/programs/arabic/womenjuly07.pdf