Debating US Contemporary Feminism

The US women's movement has challenged societal norms, policies, laws, and culture since its inception. However, at the same time, it has inspired debates about its goals, ideology, tactics, and outcomes. These debates emerge from two main sources: the mainstream media as it reflects dominant culture and among feminist activists and/or scholars. I elaborate on three of the most contentious aspects of contemporary feminism through a series of questions: Is the movement still in existence? What is the relationship between generations of feminists? And finally, how have feminists addressed diversity, privilege, and inclusion in the movement, particularly around issues of race‐ethnicity? I conclude that while the movement still exists, feminists continue to struggle with generational relations, and contemporary activists have not created an inclusive and diverse movement. However, I argue that these debates and struggles are evidence of a vibrant movement that continues into the 21st century.     

Debating Eco/Feminist Natures

This article discusses the experiences in municipal politics of indigenous women in Oaxaca, Mexico. The data base includes in-depth interviews with the eighteen women who have been elected mayor since 1995, when the Government of Oaxaca legally recognized indigenous self-government. By looking at the women as in/outsiders of their own culture, the article examines the ways in which they question various components of the indigenous autonomous project as well as the performance of western political institutions such as political parties and the educational system. Women's views go beyond the tradition/modernity dichotomy, where tradition is associated with backward, patriarchal institutions and modernity with progress and gender equality. Both tradition and modernity are redefined in order to identify the elements that may contribute to gender equality in the indigenous self-government project of Mexico.     

Internet Addiction: Debating the Diagnosis

While the Internet has revolutionized the process of information gathering and communication in society, there has been mounting concern in the literature as to the effect of the medium on the individual. Researchers appear torn as to whether an individual can actually develop an addiction to the Internet. This report will review this controversy in detail, including proposed definitional criteria for problematic Internet use, explanatory theories of the manifestation of problematic Internet use, measures of problematic Internet use, and groups with a higher vulnerability of developing problematic Internet use. The report will conclude by identifying gaps in the literature, areas for future research, and implications for human service agencies and treatment providers.     

Shifting Identities: Chinese Muslims in Malaysia

This paper concerns Chinese Muslims in Malaysia, and attempts to explain the phenomenon behind the shift in their identities towards either religion or ethnicity. It proposes that, upon arriving in Malaysia, the Chinese Muslims, finding themselves overwhelmed between a majority non-Chinese Muslim community and a majority non-Muslim Chinese community, have, for survival purposes or by political design, rather quickly assimilated into one group or the other. The paper takes as examples a few Chinese Muslim clans or families from different regions of Malaysia. It also briefly narrates the situation of the Chinese converts, and discusses the development in their status from a ‘social anomaly that exists in an ethnic limbo’1 ?1?Judith Nagata, ‘The Chinese Muslims of Malaysia: New Malays or New Associates? A Problem of Religion and Ethnicity’, in Gordon P. Means (ed.), The Past in Southeast Asia's Present (Secreteriat, Canadian Society for Asian Studies, Ottawa. Ontario, 1978), pp. 102?–?13. View all notes to a small community of Malaysian Chinese who are Muslim, and who are accepted as such by all segments of society.     

Transnational marriage among Ahmadi Muslims in the UK

Abstract Ahmadi Muslims constitute a reformed sect of Islam founded in 1889 by a charismatic leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. In this article I explore the character and processes of transnational marriage arrangements among Ahmadi Muslims over three generations in the UK. I suggest that the process of conversion to Ahmadiyyat and the organizational structure of Ahmadi mosques have combined to produce a flexible pattern of marriage among Ahmadis that is unusual among South Asians. A significant number of earlier and contemporary Ahmadi marriages are interethnic, reflecting an expansive Ahmadiya identity that is perceived to be independent of ethnicity. Further, analysis of marriage proposals accepted as well as rejected suggests gender differences in perceptions of and motivations for marriage. The analysis suggests that while gender differences in expectations of marriage may have parallels in some other South Asian transnational marriages, Ahmadi religious identity and organization plays a distinctive role in shaping the processes of Ahmadi marriage arrangements.     

Muslims of northern Mozambique and the liberation movements

Despite the fact that the liberation war occurred in northern Mozambique, where a considerable number of Muslims lived, their contribution to the independence struggle has been little studied. This paper focusses on their participation in two nationalist liberation movements, Mozambican African National Union (MANU) and Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (FRELIMO), and demonstrates that the prevailing idea in scholarship about Muslims’ aloofness from the liberation struggle is unjustified. It argues that Muslim support and participation in the liberation movements stemmed primarily from grassroots African nationalism. Like most Africans, Muslims wished to end colonialism and recover their land from the Portuguese. African Muslims of northern Mozambique were well suited to support these movements, because Islam and chieftainship were linked to each other. Chiefs were believed to be the ‘owners’ and ‘stewards’ of the land, and a majority of Muslim leaders, whether traditional chiefs (régulos, in Portuguese) or Sufi leaders (tariqa khulafa’, in Arabic), were from the chiefly clans. Most importantly, Muslims of northern Mozambique had close historical and cultural ties to Tanganyika and Zanzibar, especially through Islamic and kinship networks. The involvement of Muslims in the liberation movements of those regions, in particular in Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), inspired and encouraged the Muslims of northern Mozambique to support MANU and FRELIMO, especially since these two movements were launched in Tanganyika and Zanzibar with TANU backing and the participation of Muslim immigrants from northern Mozambique.     

义乌阿拉伯穆斯林的文化调适之剖析

在浙江义乌,绝大多数的外商是来自阿拉伯世界的穆斯林。该群体除从商外,其实还面临着文化上的调适问题。而在社会管理方面,政府有关部门也有压力和难度。本文认为,汲取中国古代王朝曾经实行过的"蕃坊制"中的历史经验,以及吸收新加坡、日本等国在管理外籍穆斯林方面的做法,提供相对封闭的文化环境和配套措施,将有助于来华居住的阿拉伯穆斯林较快地完成文化上的调适。     

The urban background of Enslaved Muslims in the Americas

Enslaved Muslims constituted a relatively small proportion of the enslaved population in the Americas, and that population was largely male. This article explores an unappreciated dimension of the background of these enslaved Muslims, the fact that most came from towns and had traveled widely, between towns; that is enslaved Muslims tended to come from urban settings, no matter where they ended up in the Americas. This urban background has implications in terms of the experiences and expectations of the enslaved. The urban context was associated with commerce, craft specialization, literacy, and political and social consciousness of slavery and its meaning within west Africa. The study examines available biographical information on enslaved Muslims from the Western Sudan, usually referred to as Mandingo or some variant in the Americas, and those from the Central Sudan, including Hausa, Yoruba, Nupe and people from Borno. The urban setting of Muslim areas of West Africa is then compared with other towns and cities in the Atlantic world during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in terms of size of towns and multicultural backgrounds of urban populations, further demonstrating that the urban background of many enslaved Africans and the extent to which the enslaved population was moved between towns has not been appreciated.     

当代美国穆斯林族群社会进程探析

“9·11”恐怖袭击事件爆发后，随着强调伊斯兰教与代表西方文明的基督教之间矛盾冲突的所谓“文明冲突论”的兴起，美国穆斯林族群的生存状态与发展状况也引起了美国社会的普遍关注，并成为西方学界探讨的热点。本文将着重考察该族群自20世纪以来争取公民与政治权利的社会进程，以此为视角研究其历史发展轨迹，并进一步探讨“9·11”事件为其带来的挑战与契机。     

当代美国穆斯林族群社会进程探析

"9·11"恐怖袭击事件爆发后,随着强调伊斯兰教与代表西方文明的基督教之间矛盾冲突的所谓"文明冲突论"的兴起,美国穆斯林族群的生存状态与发展状况也引起了美国社会的普遍关注,并成为西方学界探讨的热点.本文将着重考察该族群自20世纪以来争取公民与政治权利的社会进程,以此为视角研究其历史发展轨迹,并进一步探讨"9·11"事件为其带来的挑战与契机.     

New Styles of Community Building and Philanthropy by Arab-American Muslims

Among Arab-American Muslims, secular ethnic and humanitarian giving, focused on ‘results’ and ‘measurable impact,’ is displacing religiously inspired giving, that is driven by ‘charity’ and ‘love of mankind.’ This trend is supported by evidence of the way donors position themselves and philanthropic organizations appeal to their donor base. The case is supported by qualitative data drawn from interviews with key informants and from trend data on giving. I propose a new model of giving based on identity and giving, using Grounded Theory methods. This model challenges our understanding about the connection between community and philanthropy and proposes that philanthropy can create ‘community.’     

Muslims in a 'White Australia': Colour or Religion?

Muslim migration to Australia took place over three distinct periods - the Colonial, the 'White Australia' and the Multicultural periods. This article discusses the settlement issues of Muslims during the 'White Australia' period (1901-73). It particularly focuses on five distinct ethnic groups - Indians, Afghans, Malays, Javanese and Albanians - in Queensland and Western Australia. It questions whether these groups were treated 'differently'because of their Islamic beliefs. The study draws upon both primary and secondary sources, including archival materials and oral testimonies. From the evidence presented, it is clear that a hardening attitude against Muslims has been apparent and that historical antipathies and long-lived antipathies have grown in the specific context of the current geopolitical climate     

The Criminalization of Muslims in the United States, 2016

The criminalization of Muslims—framing an Islamic religious identity as a problem to be solved using state crime control logic—is undeniably in process in the United States. Local, state, and federal statutes target Muslims for surveillance and exclusion, and media sources depict Muslims as synonymous with terrorism, as others have shown. This paper analyzes the public’s role in the criminalization of Islam, which I call “cr-Islamization.” Drawing on in-depth, qualitative interviews in a major Southwest city during the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, I detail how the majority of 144 politically, racially, and economically diverse interviewees talk about Muslims as a potential “racial threat,” using “fear of crime” language indicative of the mass incarceration era. This suggests that criminalization theory should be central to sociological studies of Muslims in the contemporary United States, and that criminalization rhetoric remains powerful, despite mainstream enthusiasm for criminal justice reform. I argue that criminalization’s power might reside in its ability to mutate in the “post-racial” era. The mechanisms supporting crimmigration, the criminalization of black Americans, and cr-Islamization are related but not identical. Muslims are religiously and racially subjugated, but more economically secure compared to other criminalized groups. This paper’s findings should prompt scholars to re-examine the relationships between racialization, criminalization, religious subjugation, and economic exploitation in the twenty-first century United States.

     

Debating trans inclusion in the feminist movement: a trans-positive analysis

The debate over whether or not to allow, accept, and embrace transpeople as a segment of the feminist movement has been a tumultuous one that remains unresolved. Prominent authors have argued both sides of the dispute. This article analyzes the anti-inclusion feminist viewpoint and offers a trans-positive perspective for moving toward a potential resolution of the debate.     

Debating the Burqa in France: the Antipolitics of Islamic Revival

In 2009 a French national commission was created to issue recommendations against “the burqa” and raise the possibility of a ban on the practice in certain public settings. This paper explores the different normative stakes of politicizing the burqa and the form of Islamic Revival with which it is associated. Recent scholarship has sought to overturn orientalist depictions of Islamic movements but has insisted that bodily ethical practices, such as Muslim women’s veiling, constitute forms of politics. Based on ethnographic research in a women’s mosque community in a poor suburb of Lyon, France, I argue that these women are not engaged in a form of politics but rather, antipolitics, a movement originally conceptualized in the 1970s and 80s as a rejection of politics and a valorization of private life. Three components define their antipolitics: a reconfiguration of the private sphere against an intrusive state, a retreat into a moral community, and emphasis on spiritual conditions and achievement of serenity. In interrogating different meanings of politics and antipolitics, this paper suggests a rethinking of the relationship between “political Islam” and piety movements.