International Transfer of Policies and Practices of Gender Equality in Employment to and among Muslim Majority Countries

This article investigates the premise that it is possible to transpose organizational approaches to equal employment opportunity (EEO) from western countries to Muslim majority countries (MMCs). Drawing on policy interviews and documentary evidence from public sector organizations and international development agencies engaged in the promotion of gender equality in Turkey and Pakistan, we question the effectiveness of diffusion of gender equality policies and practices to and among these two MMCs. Our investigation reveals the primacy of context over essence in developing effective ways to construct EEO policies and practices which can be adopted in MMCs.     

‘Power Differences’ and ‘the Power of Difference’: The Dominance of Secularism as Ontological Injustice

Abstract

Recent religious studies and international relations scholarship has highlighted secularism as a critical element in dominant modes of identity, power, and exclusion in global politics. Yet, the implications of these insights for global justice theory and practice have rarely been considered. This article suggests that the current dominance of secularism within global justice theory and practice risks undermining the global justice project. Specifically, I argue that secularism’s dominance constitutes an ontological injustice, where both alternative non-secular visions of the world and visions of alternative non-secular worlds are subordinated to secular ontologies. However, this argument raises a crucial question: if, despite secularism’s claim to neutrality and universality, the dominance of secular ontologies contributes to rather than ameliorates injustice, the question that remains is: what are the alternatives? The article concludes by exploring some preliminary responses to this question.     

In memoriam: L. H. M. Ling

In the early phase of its rule in Turkey (2002–4), the pro-Islamic government of the AKP (Justice and Development party) and various branches of the state collaborated in a series of political and economic reforms. The democratization process has gradually moderated and integrated Islamic actors into the secular Turkish Republic. However, it has also had polarizing effects on social groups. Among many, the polarization of two groups of women, ‘pious’ and ‘secularist’, deserves particular attention. Instead of bringing Turkish women together, gender reforms, particularly the lifting of the headscarf ban in universities, have divided women and created disarray and confrontation in society. This article reveals and compares the two dramatically different patterns of political engagement by pious and secularist women in leadership positions in contemporary Turkey. On the one hand, it reveals the increasingly radical backlash of secularist women against the increasing visibility in public spaces of pious women who veil. On the other hand, it examines how pious women, who see the tumult their religious observance in the public space is creating, are increasingly turning to a non-confrontational mode of non-response. What is the prognosis for the future of a democratic Turkey?     

Secular state,religious lives: Islam and the state in Malaysia

Debates on secularism in Malaysia often revolve around the legal, especially the constitutional, framework. To this end several NGOs organised a road show in 2006 to debate issues surrounding freedom of religion. Not only were these events mobbed by angry crowds, but also the state intervened and shut down these and future discussions on the topic of religion, deeming such debates sensitive. This article addresses the particularities of secularism in Malaysia vis-à-vis Olivier Roy's thesis in ‘Secularism Confronts Islam’ that sees religious space and secular space as discernable yet not antithetical and Charles Taylor's thesis in the ‘Secular Age’, where he points to a new definition of secularism as a pluralist and transcendent notion of belief. In Malaysia both variants are present, with the state playing a dangerous game situating itself between reactionary Muslim forces and a moderate majority.     

现代性诗学的两极——马克思主义美学、文艺学与唯美主义诗学

在现代性诗学家族当中,唯美主义与马克思主义美学、文艺学处于对立的两极:唯美主义力倡文学艺术自律,强调文学艺术的批判性、革命性功能,高标文学艺术活动与科学认知行为的分野,反对文学艺术从属于社会实践。而马克思主义美学、文艺学从其主流来讲则立足于社会实践,将文学艺术活动纳入于整体性的社会规划,强调文学艺术的认知性与功利性。两相对比,前者属于典型的审美现代性诗学,而后者则基本可划归到社会现代性文化的领域。但是另一方面,两个诗学流派却又具有相同的逻辑起点以及相同的文化属性:这就是立足于现实、现世的一元意识以及鲜明的世俗化性质。而这也正是唯美主义与马克思主义尽管两相抵触但又两相关联、共同归属于现代性诗学的根本原因之所在。     

论民间祭祀神佛形象的世俗化

原始人对祖先、鬼魂的崇拜,不过是企求死者佑护生者,以便生者得到更多的物质财富罢了.先民们对动植物图腾的崇拜和一系列的民间祭祀活动只是形式,而实质是交换.在长年累月的这种以"物"易"物"的交换中(实为精神交易),现实利益、现实需求和现实愿望等"精神货币"便产生了.于是,中国民间祭祀便自然从神圣走向了世俗.民间祭祀神佛形象的世俗化即为其表现之一.     

问学与致用之间--萧公权教育思想刍议

萧公权是民国时期少数学贯中西的学者之一，教育既是其终身从事的理想事业，也是他抒发志愿的精神寄托。萧公权有关“学术独立”与“学以致用”等理念的思考与批判，对人们理解中国教育的许多根本问题极具启发价值。受制于内外因素的制约，萧公权本身仍然没有超越学术救国的窠臼，这一现象值得深思。     

The Role of Secularism of State on the Relationship Between Catholic Identity,Political Orientation,and Gay Rights Issues

In discussions of regulations governing same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians, the issue of state secularism is often called into question. This study aims to test the mediating effects of state secularism on the relationship between Catholic identity, political orientation, and gay civil rights. Participants were Catholic Italians who completed a questionnaire measuring the constructs under investigation. Results showed that state secularism mediates the effects of Catholic identity and political orientation on attitudes toward same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians.     

Veiled Representations

This article argues that the political divide between Islamists and secularists is what shapes and manipulates the representation of female sexuality in Turkish media. As manifested in the 2007 post-election debate surrounding veiled women and the g-string, Turkish media have been incapable of reconciling a traditionally western signifier (the g-string) with a quintessential Islamic sartorial symbol (the veil). This alleged irreconcilability of the two symbols in Turkish print media thus indicates, on the one hand, the already existing ideological rift in Turkish society between secularists versus Islamists, but more problematically, it is what alienates the female body from itself, denying it an autoerotic sexuality, and making it the site of bio-political battle.     

老子的神化和神话的老子

老子在道教神系中占有举足轻重的地位。历史上老子被神化的过程,反映出现实生活的曲折变迁。唐末五代《道教灵验记》中有关老子的神话故事,是老子地位达到空前高度的背景下对其神性权威的宗教化表达,也是现实世界的人生诉求在宗教里的折射。