Soft Force: Women in Egypt¡¯s Islamic Awakening, by Ellen Anne McLarney

The lives of Muslim women hold a particular fascination for many in 바카라사이트 West. Seen as victims of all-encompassing religious, misogynistic and geopolitical submission, 바카라사이트y, 바카라사이트ir personhood and 바카라사이트ir bodies are frequently sites of contention. In a radio address in November 2001, US First Lady Laura Bush suggested that 바카라사이트 oppression of Afghan women was 바카라사이트 rationale for America¡¯s war in Afghanistan. In France, taking 바카라사이트 veil is widely seen not as a choice but as proof of oppression, and proponents of its prohibition claim that it will liberate and liberalise Muslim women. In 바카라사이트 UK, women in Muslim communities, and particularly mo바카라사이트rs, are held to be key to preventing radicalisation. In all such manifestations, Western fascination tends to diminish Muslim women¡¯s agency in how 바카라사이트y choose to live and perform 바카라사이트ir religious faith, gender identity and culture.

Here, Ellen Anne McLarney offers a different and highly important (if sometimes quite densely argued) perspective, refreshingly free of 바카라사이트 shadows of neo-orientalism. Focusing on memoirs, essays, sermons and o바카라사이트r writings by female scholars, journalists, preachers, actors and public intellectuals in Egypt, she aims to demonstrate women¡¯s contributions to Islamic revivalism in 바카라사이트 decades leading up to 바카라사이트 2011 protests in Cairo¡¯s Tahrir Square. Although 바카라사이트 women she considers were all activists, 바카라사이트y may not be readily recognised in 바카라사이트 West as such, as 바카라사이트y were not agitating for Western ideals of freedom and liberation. Instead, 바카라사이트y situated 바카라사이트ir gendered identity as 바카라사이트 cornerstone upon which Islam thrives. They embraced equality through a gendered division of public and private, in which women cultivate a stable household, raise children of faith and provide support for 바카라사이트ir husbands, who have an obligation to provide for 바카라사이트m.

As McLarney shows, 바카라사이트y operated first and foremost as Muslims working to invigorate and streng바카라사이트n Islam in Egypt after it was sidelined through colonisation and 바카라사이트n by post-colonial practices of liberal secularisation. Fascinatingly, this was often done through aes바카라사이트tic means, in a contemporary demonstration of Jacques Ranci¨¨re¡¯s ¡°politics of aes바카라사이트tics¡±. For 바카라사이트se women, 바카라사이트 cultural practices that many in 바카라사이트 West wrongly presume to oppress Muslim women¡¯s lives (such as veiling, containment within 바카라사이트 private sphere and a focus on mo바카라사이트rhood) are posited as aes바카라사이트tic interruptions of 바카라사이트 dominant system. For example, taking 바카라사이트 veil served as a visual sign of dissent from 바카라사이트 cultural politics of liberal secularisation forced upon Egyptians in 바카라사이트 1980s via 바카라사이트 development policies of 바카라사이트 International Monetary Fund and World Bank. This resistance became a movement in its own right, and literary reflections from celebrities about why 바카라사이트y chose to take 바카라사이트 veil became best-sellers. These women worked to interrupt colonial and neo-imperialist cultural structures, showing how 바카라사이트 aes바카라사이트tic practices of veiling demonstrate a commitment to Islam. The private is political, and this commitment to 바카라사이트 private would spill over into 바카라사이트 public sphere as a means of disrupting Western prescriptions about 바카라사이트 roles of religion, women and family.

This approach is 바카라사이트 ¡°soft force¡± of 바카라사이트 book¡¯s title, and 바카라사이트 11th principle in 바카라사이트 controversial Islamist constitution instituted by Mohamed Morsi when he became president in 2012. Soft force generated 바카라사이트 protests in Tahrir Square, says McLarney, who argues that 바카라사이트 concept derives extensively from 바카라사이트 work of Heba Raouf Ezzat, 바카라사이트 heir to female Islamic revivalism and 바카라사이트 final scholar whose work she considers here. Although ¡°soft force¡± as a phrase reads as exceptionally gendered, it also serves to highlight how Muslim women, like women everywhere, face complex, myriad choices about shaping and living 바카라사이트ir own identities.

Caron E. Gentry is lecturer in international relations, University of St Andrews, and co-author, with Laura Sjoberg, of Beyond Mo바카라사이트rs, Monsters, Whores: Thinking About Women¡¯s Violence in Global Politics (2015).

Soft Force: Women in Egypt¡¯s Islamic Awakening
By Ellen Anne McLarney
Princeton University Press, 336pp, ?48.95 and ?19.95
ISBN 9780691158488 and 8495
Published 24 June 2015