[Air-L] FW: Call for Chapter (edited work)

[Roxanne Marcotte]

FYI

 

 

CALL FOR CHAPTERS: MUSLIM WOMEN'S DIGITAL GEOGRAPHIES (edited work;
tentative publication date 2012)

Dr Anna Piela

 

 

I would like to announce a call for chapters for an edited collection
"Muslim Women's Digital Geographies". The collection aims to bring
together research on Muslim women's diverse activity on the Internet
that may span personal writing, debates in discussion groups, political
activism, networking and other forms of interaction with other people
and audiences. The collection is interdisciplinary, and welcomes
perspectives from all disciplines, be they Islamic studies, social
sciences, technology studies, gender studies, fashion studies,
linguistics, art, politics and many others. 

Scholarship on Muslim women in the recent years has extensively focused
on the Islamic dress-code as the main signifier of faith. However, there
are many other, under-researched aspects of Muslim women's lives,
including their use of new technologies for religious purposes. Most
notably, Muslim women use the Internet as a platform for creation of
gender-specific understanding of Islamic scriptures. These alternative
readings question the validity of patriarchal, mainstream
interpretations that have shaped lives of generations of Muslim women
who have long challenged them from within academia (see Wadud, 2001;
Barlas, 2006) and locally, in 'face-to-face'  grassroots contexts such
as women's organisations and mosque study circles (see Afshar, 1998;
Mahmood, 2005; Badran, 2006; Bhimji, 2009). 

 

The Internet is increasingly seen as a facilitator of such interpretive
practices that can now be conducted through collaboration of Muslim
women from different geographic and cultural locations. This geographic
and cultural diversity is likely to have an impact in terms of
originality of the scriptural readings, as such Internet-based
interpretations have the potential to be much more inclusive than
previous, localised understandings of Islam. This is particularly
important for grassroots women who have been largely excluded from
decision-making in Islamic religious structures in spite of the rise of
Islamic feminism. As a result, the Internet is perceived by some Muslim
women as a platform enabling them to create and publish their
interpretations of the Qur'an and the Hadith to many audiences.

 

The collection Muslim Women's Digital Geographies retains a focus on
intersections of the Islamic faith and technology. Exploration of
different ways in which Muslim women employ new technologies, in
particular the Internet, to develop and emphasise their identity and
agency as Muslim women (especially in the context of stereotypical media
representations of Islam in the West) will contribute to more complex
and sophisticated understanding of their lives and experiences.

 

The book is expected to be published by Brill in the Women and Gender
series. Please contact me if you have any queries regarding publication
of a chapter in the book.

 

Contact details: 

Dr Anna Piela

annapiela at googlemail.com <mailto:annapiela at googlemail.com> 

Tel. 00447772175801