Do Muslim Women Need Saving?  By Lila Abu-Lughod

I have compiled below some bits on the book. There are so many recent events tied closely or broadly to the subject of the book. I have kept the focus fairly tightly on the book in the links here, except for the last one, which makes some connections, and we can make more of these in our discussion. I hope the pieces are helpful, and I look forward to the session!

Summary of the book (adapted from the jacket blurb):  Frequent reports of honor killings, disfigurement, and sensational abuse have given rise to a consensus in the West, a message propagated by human rights groups and the media: Muslim women need to be rescued. Lila Abu-Lughod boldly challenges this conclusion. In recent years Abu-Lughod has struggled to reconcile the popular image of women victimized by Islam with the complex women she has known through her research in various communities in the Muslim world. She renders that divide vivid by presenting detailed vignettes of the lives of ordinary Muslim women, and showing that the problem of gender inequality cannot be laid at the feet of religion alone. Poverty and authoritarianism—conditions not unique to the Islamic world, and produced out of global interconnections that implicate the West—are often more decisive. The standard Western vocabulary of oppression, choice, and freedom is too blunt to describe these women’s lives. Do Muslim Women Need Saving? is an indictment of a mindset that has justified all manner of foreign interference, including military invasion, in the name of rescuing women from Islam—as well as a moving portrait of women’s actual experiences, and of the contingencies with which they live.

Abu-Lughod videos and article:  Two very short but informative videos of Abu-Lughod talking about the book, from the Harvard University Press and New York Times sites, and a brief article by Abu-Lughod in Time online.

Review of the book:  An excellent and easy to read review of Abu-Lughod's book by Elif Shafak, a prominent Turkish woman author who is published widely in English.

Blog post with two key images discussed in the book:  A post on a blog called Sociological Images that briefly covers the two images that Abu-Lughod discusses in depth in the book: the image used by a German human rights group, purporting to be in support of women's rights, that equates women in burqas with garbage bags; and the controversial image from a 2010 Time magazine cover of Afghan woman Bibi Aysha.

Interview with a Muslim-American civil rights activist:  In this excellent interview, Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of NYC, talks about the increase in Islamophobia and linkages between the movement against this and the current racial justice movement that grew out of Ferguson.

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness  By Michelle Alexander

“The New Jim Crow" is now part of the lexicon of racial inequality analysis and racial justice advocacy due to Michelle Alexander’s book.  A civil rights lawyer, legal scholar and activist, she looks at the racial dimensions of policing and imprisonment in the US and argues that the criminal justice system enforces a racial caste system.  While the book is a carefully researched legal and social analysis, it is far from cold or clinical; Alexander also makes an impassioned plea for greater compassion - for all of us to care more about the people our criminal justice systems nets through discriminatory policing and campaigns, like the War on Drugs, the people it locks into cages in the millions, the people whose rights and chances it curtails or eliminates even after they are technically "freed" from imprisonment.  

Compiled below are some links to articles, sites and more, on topics and recent events related to what is covered in the book.  Reading these articles is not required; they are for our reference and to help us make connections. If you have not had time to read the book, checking out a few of the links may be useful, perhaps starting with the New Jim Crow website, which summarizes the book's argument.

Update [11/15/14]: If you read one thing along with or instead of the book, read this Huffington Post article, which pulls together everything: Ferguson, the New Jim Crow, systemic, institutionalized racism.

Stats on incarceration and felon disenfranchisement:

The website of the Sentencing Project, headed by Mark Mauer, whose reports are cited throughout The New Jim Crow, is an excellent resource, with the latest stats on people in prison (2.2 million) and those out of prison but disenfranchised. It has a good, brief review of Prop 47, the sentencing reform measure we passed in California in this month's election.

Sentencing and imprisonment of women:

Women of color are victims of discriminatory policing and sentencing, along with men; the case of Marissa Alexander in Florida is a recent, prominent example.  Women inmates were sterilized without their consent in California prisons, and due to pressure from activist groups like Justice NOW, the state recently instituted restrictions on sterilization; but women incarcerated during their reproductive years are effectively barred from parenting.  Women who have police records may be especially vulnerable to police abuse, as suggested by the recent case of the Oklahoma City cop who serially sexually assaulted African American women with records.

Militarization of police and overpolicing:

Ahead of the grand jury decision on the killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, St Louis (STL) police are spending big money on riot gear, including tear gas grenades and rubber bullets, which they used along with drones and armored carriers during the Ferguson protests in August.  Stockpiling of military gear by police departments around the US has been going on for some time, and Rodney Balko has traced the history of this in a major book.  HRW had researchers on the ground during the height of the Ferguson protests; it issued reports on police intimidation of protesters and a letter calling on Missouri's governor to review the law enforcement responses.

Criminalization of communities of color and men of color:

The Ferguson protests, ongoing, are a response not only to Mike Brown's killing but also to general, daily mistreatment of the community by the police, which the Department of Justice is investigating. This report reveals how some STL municipalities fund themselves by serially fining low-income people, mainly African Americans, effectively criminalizing poverty.  Khalil Gibran Muhammad wrote an important book on the criminalization of black communities. On the fear of black men, Jamelle Bouie's article is brief and excellent; and on the worth of black men, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts’ piece is powerful and eloquent.

  

Implicit bias:

Bouie's article references implicit bias, as does Alexander's book.  Studies reveal that while people may not consciously think they have racial bias, it may operate on an unconscious level.  The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University is leading research on implicit bias, which impacts policing, school discipline, employment and even health care. Implicit bias has been shown to figure into doctors' perceptions of black patients' pain, and in how much pain medication doctors prescribe to children.

Myth of colorblindness:

Implicit bias studies also help to debunk the myth of colorblindess.  Race remains a real determinant in the contexts named above and more, so claiming not to see it or refusing to see it denies individual and collective experiences of discrimination based on race—and our nation’s history. And talking about or considering race is not in itself discriminatory (or racist): Justice Sonia Sotomayor had to explain this to Chief Justice John Roberts. In Ebony, Jamilah Lemieux gave a woman of color's view on "colorlessness" and the imaginary “post-racial.”

School-to-prison pipeline and juvenile justice:

LA Unified School District has recently taken measures to reduce criminalized school discipline, the source of the school-to-prison pipeline.  Elizabeth Calvin, Senior Children's Rights Advocate based at HRW's LA office, is a leader in the fight for reforms in the California juvenile justice system.  Chicago-based anti-incarceration activist Miriame Kaba's Project NIA site and US Prison Culture blog are invaluable resources on criminalization and incarceration of youth, and on youth activism in response.

Alternatives to punitive justice:

Project NIA also advocates for the abolition of prisons.  Prison abolitionists, many of them feminists, argue that prisons themselves are a form of violence and that we can find an alternative to our current punitive model in a community-based, transformative approach. Restorative justice is another model aimed at reducing or preventing incarceration, especially of youth.

Malala: Who is Malala?

In April, we will read the book I Am Malala: The Girl who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Taliban, co-written with Malala Yousafzai by British journalist Christina Lamb. At first glance, you may think that you have read this story (just with a minor shift in specific details) before. If you are not familiar with this particular story, there are several in-depth articles you can read: Vanity Fair, the Guardian, the New York Times and more. The topic certainly has been covered from many angles.

This book should, however, inspire some important and timely discussions. As the political and military gaze of the USA and other leaders shifts toward Ukraine, Venzuela, and continues to try to avoid Syria, people in Pakistan and the greater region are still struggling with the questions (women's rights, freedom of expression, fundamentalist terror groups, corrupt governments) that covered the headlines and often justified intervention.

In the past, we read Three Cups of Tea (since then, Greg Mortenson and hist NGO have been discredited). The larger point at issue is that education, and education of girls as well as boys, is one of the most important things that any society can do to improve security and well-being into the future. There are plenty of other groups successfully leading the way in this area: the Agha Khan Development Network, Room to Read, and others. This issue and related challenges are long standing, and will remain important for the long term.

Malala's story is also an interesting prism through which we might explore two related questions: the first has to do with the way that Malala's authenticity, intelligence, and honor is questioned because of the help she has taken from supporters in the West. Post-colonial third world feminist has confronted these issues over and over again, but they are important and they shape real lives. We can see this in Malala's story. Some argue that Malala is inauthentic and even a stooge of western interests (she won the Sakharov Award, the UN Human Rights Prize, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and won many more) . Malala's story inspired videos and activism all over the world. Claims that 'we are all Malala' can be read either positively as empathetic solidarity or negatively as another example of silencing and usurping of a their world woman's (or girl's) voice. There were two additional girls who were shot on the same bus as Malala, and we rarely hear their stories -- but they are speaking out as well. At the same time, Malala is very eloquent (she had her own blog already, and now she has a website, a book, and the Malala Fund) and has found opportunities to speak: at the Aspen Ideas Festival; on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart; she spoke at the United Nations, and to US President Obama.

The second question is one of representation and voice here in our own backyard: we don't seem to be improving literacy in the USA, and while literacy and gender equity issues are different in the USA, they are extremely important for gender equity. Which leads us to the next issue. While many leaders in the United States are very excited to host a guest lecture from Malala, the United States still lags behind in an appalling way when it comes to voting for and listening to women in government. This gap extends to local politics: representation in Los Angeles city hall for example is appallingly low, and has sparked public debate. If we are (and we should be) so excited about encouraging Pakistan to fight to educate their girls and to listen to their girls, then why aren't we fighting the same fights at home?

Long Walk to Freedom: Mandela's Memoir

Mandela's memoir, stretches from his childhood and early days as a lawyer through his development as a political organizer and freedom fighter, prisoner and world leader.

The Guardian has a beautiful interactive timeline of his life. The Nelson Mandela Foundation is also a great resource for learning more about Mandela.









Key points in his historic life include:
born, July 18, 1918
ran away to Johannesburg, 1941
joined the ANC, 1944
married to Evelyn Mase, 1944 - 1958
Defiance Campaign, 1952
Mandela and Tambo (first black law firm) established, 1952
government bans, arrests, and Treason Trials, 1952 - 1961
married to Winnie Madikizela, 1958 - 1996
Workers Strike, 1961
sentenced to life imprisonment, 1963
President de Klerk released Mandela, 1990
Nobel Peace Prize, 1993
elected first black President, 1994
signed into law a new constitution based on majority rule, 1996
married Graca Machel, 1998
retired, 2004
convened "The Elders", 2007

There's a movie now, too...

National Level
Mandela is widely known as an advocate of women's rights: in 1993, just before Mandela was elected President, South Africa signed the UN Convention to End All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and in 1995, South Africa ratified the convention under President Mandela. Explicitly noting the key role women had in the past and future of the nation, President Mandela established a National Women's Day in his first years in office.

The new constitution included equality rights and he introduced basic health care access for women at the same time that it established racial equality. South Africa now has many women in leadership positions and scores among the elite countries of the world on gender gap measurements.

At the same time, women still dominate low-wage sectors of the economy, are more likely to be unemployed and poor, and are commonly exposed to violence -- particularly sexual violence and murder. Human Rights Watch has recently reported on violence against LGBT people, and the maternal health care problems faced by many women in the Eastern Cape.

The disparities are shocking. The possibilities for women in South Africa are at polar extremes, from the best (in political participation and careers) to the worst (in economic and personal freedom).

There are activists who argue that this level of violence is a kind of society-wide expression of post-apartheid post-traumatic stress. This might be a concept that is difficult to really accept, until you start considering the context of dominant gender roles for men and women in violent, oppressive states, and the continued economic and social equality struggles that many South Africans face.

Professional Level
Mandela has recognized the participation of women in the anti-apartheid struggle.In his book, he notes the 1956 march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, in which 20,000 women protested travel controls on black women.

There is not very much in the early part of the book, however, that is consciously critical of the role of women in his professional life. While many women were part of the struggle, his story of struggle is often very specifically focused on the challenges that he faced (often alone or with other leading men) logistically, strategically, and philosophically.

This clearly changes when he meets Winne.

Personal Level
(work in progress)

Warrior Princess: A Transgender Navy SEAL's Journey

There are many stories now about brave transgender people. This story, though, confronts so many challenging and interesting issues that it is worth a close examination.

At a time in which Chelsea Manning's coming out prompted discussions of whether she has the right to corrective medical treatment while incarcerated, there are broader issues with human rights violations of LGBT prisoners, the criminalization and incarceration of LGBT people, and even broader issues with the general concept of human rights being afforded to all human beings (even those accused of or guilty of a crime). If you are not sure what we mean when we suggest that human rights are not applying to people who are considered criminals, listen to some of the After Innocence stories, and think about the debates over the use of torture in the war on terror, or take a look at HRW's prisons work.
So, the Warrior Princess story is timely and brings out all these interesting questions about patriotism, human rights, soldiers and their personal rights/personal identities.... as well as the broader questions about LGBT people and human rights..... and also broader questions about human rights and freedom of expression, dissent, incarceration, imprisonment, assumptions of guilt/innocence.

On top of that, this topic can help us confront in depth issues of gender, power, authenticity, masculinity, and more. For an introduction to basic terms and concepts that will help, check out Trans101. And read up on Fausto-Sterling.

Not About One Thing: Americanah

Americanah is the new novel written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. This award winning author wrote Half of a Yellow Sun. Our book club read that book way back in 2007.

While "Yellow Sun" was situated in Nigeria, this book brings us from Nigeria to the United States, and to the United Kingdom, and back. Through the complicated, interwoven lives we follow in this novel, we encounter multiple, interwoven themes. If they are presented well, human rights issues are complicated, and so are good novels! Just like issues of human rights and women's rights, Americanah is not about "one thing": as Laura Pearson noted in her review, the main character (Ifemelu) in the novel points this out for us in a specific scene in the book. While she is in a beauty salon getting her hair done, Ifemelu is irritated by an attempt at conversation: someone asks her what the novel she was reading was about (groan, it's a novel... it's about a lot of things, how can I possible summarize it for you... is the feeling). Americanah, Pearson notes, is too complicated to summarize, just like Ifemelu's novel: it "covers race, identity, relationships, community, politics, privilege, language, hair, ethnocentrism, migration, intimacy, estrangement, blogging, books and Barack Obama". But it is exciting and challenging to read (a good thing, really!).

So if women's rights are about many things (as well as complicated and interwoven), where are they in this book? Here are a few:

• The novel alludes to the military dictatorships in Nigeria's past, and we encounter the ripple effects of those politics in Ifemelu's Auntie Uju, and her relationship with 'the General'. Auntie Uju's story uncovers the multiple levels of women's participation in politics, and the ways that coups and political unrest can upend everyday women's lives, partly because (all over the world) women's access to legal and civil protection is lacking. When it comes to marriage, common-law relationships, divorce, inheritance, property rights, vulnerability to violence, standards for sexual behavior, this short story illustrates many complications that women must often negotiate from a place of insecurity. Laws are constantly changing, but protections for women lag behind in general and even when it comes to basic human rights such as freedom from violence, when it comes to mistresses, their applicability are still subject to debate.

• In England, Ifemelu's boyfriend from college in Nigeria confronts the dangers of looking for work as an illegal immigrant, including extortion. Ifemelu has her own dangers to confront in that arena in the United States, where her experience is framed by a moment of sexual exploitation: a familiar and disturbing effect of the insecurity inherent in immigrant populations all over the world (especially but not only for women migrants).

• The divisions of race and class that are so strange to Ifemelu, because she is an outsider (to read or listen to an NPR interview with Adichie in the topic of 'learning to be black in the US'), are brought into relief, and presented with ironic and comedic effect in the fictional blog titles of articles that Ifemelu wrote: "Raceteenth or Various Observations About American Blacks (Those Formerly Known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black."; "Not All Dreadlocked White Guys Are Down."; "Badly Dressed White Middle Managers from Ohio Are Not Always What You Think.";"Understanding America for the Non-American Black: What Do WASPs Aspire To?"; "What Academics Mean by White Privilege, or Yes It Sucks to Be Poor and White but Try Being Poor and Non-White." Although it is not explicit, these observations and the experiences that inspire these observations, are also deeply informed by gender, and specifically by the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, and class. 

There are more threads in this book that we can pull on to explore questions of women's rights, and hopefully we will in our discussion. For a quick introduction to Adichie and Americanah, listen to Adichie in a public discussion about her book at Aloud at the LA Public Library.

However Long the Night... the Dawn will Break

This is a story of one woman's sense of homecoming in a country and culture that is a world away from the one she was born in.

It is a story of the power of patience, compassion, respect, and determination.

It is a story about the will of people everywhere to achieve dignity and happiness for themselves and their community.

It is a story of how to teach, and how to learn, and how effective (yet how difficult) it is to do both.

It is evidence of how we are all embedded in powerful networks that shape our lives, and of how we are all capable of (indeed, responsible for) improving the world we live in.

"I have always believed that if you feel you are on a path that can lead to the well-being of people, the methods  you use to achieve that goal should be respectful, peaceful, and positive... "

The book we are reading for the summer is an uplifting nonfiction book written by Aimee Molloy about Molly Melching, the founder of Tostan. Tostan is a groundbreaking NGO which has shaped education strategies, and development work in Senegal in remarkable ways.Tostan has been identified as an example of "social entrepreneurship", which is a new catch-word in the philanthropic world (although of course the practice of social entrepreneurship is age-old).

Tostan's work started with Molly Melching's interest in Africa, and specifically in Senegal; and with African language, specifically Wolof, the language that approximately eighty percent of people in Senegal speak.

Molly's work in Senegal began with literacy (still a big problem) and children's education. When she started her work in Senegal, there were no children's books in native languages, only in French. These books were written for French children, not for Senegalese children -- so not only were children being asked to learn to read in their second language instead of their first, these kids were also presented with stories that had nothing to do with their actual lives... but rather, about the Paris metro for example! Not much motivation there!

While working on literacy issues, Molly was confronted with the challenges that Senegalese children faced in even being healthy enough to get a basic education. Many children do not make it past five years of age in Senegal, and for many that do, malnutrition and related conditions along with challenges of rural communities with limited access to services and reliable infrastructure make education an uphill battle. From literacy, Molly expanded her focus to literacy and health education in local languages. (If you are interested in this, check out the work of NGO Room to Read, headquartered in San Francisco but active all over the world in children's literacy, girls' education, libraries and book publishing).

She initially thought she would educate women about early childhood health and development: how to take care of their babies and young children. But she discovered (by asking the women themselves) that women really wanted to learn about their own health, because they felt that they did not know enough to keep themselves healthy and were therefore struggling to care for their children and extended families. This shift to women's health education then moved Molly toward human rights education and leadership skill development as well as project management training.Then, women started learning and sharing these really cool lessons and skills, and the entire community wanted in!

Tostan is known for having a local, community defined, community driven approach.

If you are not sure that you would like to buy the book, you can get a good feel for the book by reading this exerpt. You can also watch Molly tell the story of Tostan as a facilitator of "positive disruption" in video:



The book has received some great publicity, as in a PBS NewsHour interview,  Melinda Gates reviewed the book; just this year, Molly Melching was named on of the 150 "Women who Shake the World" by Newsweek and the Daily Beast. She was on KPCC's Crawford Family Forum, recently as well.

The New York Times has a great compilation page on the practice of cutting.

So to complete this post, we will explore some basic terms, concepts and approaches that are key to understanding Tostan's approach and provide some social and cultural background.

Why FGC, not FGM?

FGM (female genital mutilation) is an older--but also common--term used to describe the practice of removing some part of a girl's external genitals. The preferred term is female genital cutting (FGC). the term FGC is more neutral, and descriptive. Depending on the community, the practice is called many things: the 'tradition', or circumcision for example. Most women who practice FGC are not participating in the practice with the intent of mutilation, and many do not experience it that way. Rather, it is done out of love with the intention of making a girl socially acceptable, and even more beautiful. Many women all over the world are willing to undergo dangerous and painful practices for these very goals. Molly describes in the book how powerful the social pull of these practices can be, when she finds out her own daughter felt betrayed by her mother for not cutting her. The Orchid Project has a great FAQ page if you would like to read more.

FGC and Islam

While FGC is often thought to be (and even enforced in the name of) religion, the practice is not mandated by Islamic law, and it is not an Islamic practice. In fact, one of the most successful strategies in helping to change this practice is to find religious leaders who are trusted by their communities and can spread the word that FGC is not mandated by Islam. Human Rights Watch's work in Iraqi Kurdistan is a good example of this, and parallels the work of Tostan in Senegal in this regard. There is some resistance here, however:

Knowledge is not Enough

Many women know that FGC is dangerous. The pain that it can cause to mothers (and fathers) as well as daughters is wrenching. Many attempt to circumvent the practice in order to protect their daughters; they put it off, they lie and say that they have already had it done. Molly Melching illustrates very well in her book, though, that better knowledge about how and why FGC is harmful is not enough. As with any social practice, dialogue and the mobilization of men and women together in the pursuit of their shared interest in human rights and well-being is the best and most hopeful way to change harmful social practices.

Harmful Practices are not evidence of Maliciousness 



FGC is practiced everywhere, including in the USA

FGC is a practice that is practiced by many people all across the world. This includes the United States, where there are various advocacy approaches and Europe. More than this, FGC is only one practice in a matrix of harmful and/or body altering social practices based on gender inequality that many cultures maintain. For more scholarly reading on this topic, try Transcultural Bodies, Pretty Modern.