Dialogue on the conflict between religious fundamentalism and women's rights is often stymied by an 'all or nothing' approach: fundamentalists claim of absolute religious freedom, while some feminists dismiss religion entirely as being so imbued with patriarchy as to be eternally opposed to women's rights. This ignores, though, the experiences of religious women who suffer under fundamentalism and fight to resist it, perceiving themselves to be at once religious and feminist. In Religious Fundamentalisms and the Human Rights of Women , Howland provides a forum for these different scholars, both religious and nonreligious, to meet and seek common ground in their fight against fundamentalism. Through an examination of international human rights, national law, grass roots activism, and theology, this volume explores the acute problems that contemporary fundamentalist movements pose for women's equality and liberty rights.

Autorentext

COURTNEY W. HOWLAND is Visiting Scholar in Residence at the International Women's Human Rights Center at Georgetown University Law Center.

Inhalt

Foreword; T.Buergenthal PART I: INTRODUCTION Religious Fundamentalism as a Transnational and Cross-Cultural Movement and the Legal Effect on Women; C.W.Howland PART II: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES PERSPECTIVES ON THE IMPACT OF RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM ON WOMEN Fundamentalism; J.S.Hawley Christian Fundamentalism; S.D.Rose Responses of Women to Islamic Fundamentalism; M.A.Helie-Lucas The Personal is Political; N.Yuval-Davis PART III: RESPONSES TO RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALIST ASSERTIONS OF CULTURAL RELATIVISM Relativism, Culture, Religion, and Identity; M.Singer Cultural Relativism and International Law; C.Chinkin Gender Apartheid and the Discourse of Relativity of Rights in Muslim Societies; M.Afkhami Different but Free; R.Coomaraswamy PART IV: THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK Safeguarding Women's Political Freedoms Under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in the Face of Religious Fundamentalism; C.W.Howland Religious Reservations to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; A.E.Mayer Women's Equal Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief; B.G.Tahzib-Lie Religious Fundamentalism and Education of the Girl Child Under International Law; D.Fottrell & G.Van Bueren PART V: MEETING THE CHALLENGES IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS AND DIFFERENT COUNTRIES The Two Faces of Secularism and Women's Rights in India; R.Kapur Religion, Multiculturalism and Feminism; F.Raday Family Disputes Involving Muslims in Contemporary Europe; M.C.Foblets PART VI: THE WAR OVER WOMEN'S BODIES The Effect of Religious Fundamentalism on Women's Reproductive Health; L.Freedman Roman Catholic Fundamentalism; F.Kissling Reconciling the Opposites; A.M.A.Halim Buddhism and Human Rights in the Thai Sex Trade; L.J.Peach PART VII: FASHIONING REMEDIES IN NATIONAL CONTEXT Women Educating Women in the Afghan Diaspora; S.Yacoobi Challenging Christian Fundamentalism; C. Richards Gender-based Asylum in the U.S.; P.A.Nejelski Tales of Subversion; A.Nafisi PART VIII: RELIGIOUS CHALLENGES TO RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISM A Feminist Perspective on Jewish Fundamentalism; P.Hyman Feminist Interpretations of Thai Buddhism; S.Satha-Anand Religion and Women's Rights; M.J.F.R.Nunes Reclaiming the Religious Center from a Muslim Perspective; G.Anwar