WUNRN
France and Islamic
Feminism: Intersectionality in the Republic
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The fact is that Islamic
feminists in western countries, and especially in
As the presidency of
François Hollande commenced its third year, French society is revealing its
profound division between progressive and reactionary stances on gender
equality and race issues. The latest protests “Manif pour Tous”, led by
Christian rightwing movements against gay marriage were followed by the
unbelievable alliance of Black anti-Semitic Dieudonné with the French
far-right. “Jour de Colère”, the “Anti-Hollande” protest, gathered together on
January 26 the Christian right, extreme right supporters, anti-Islam and
anti-Semitic groups.
In the midst of what really
feels like a backlash for all feminist and anti-racist activists, the topic of
Islamic feminism in French society raises issues that help us towards a deeper
understanding of women’s rights and racial segregation in
Islamic feminists, as
defined by researcher Stephanie Latte
Abdallah, "claim the right to an interpretation (of the
Q’uran), (ijtihad) that promotes gender equality, new roles in rituals and religious
practices, changes in the areas of family law, criminal law, and legal and
political practices. "
Islamic feminists in Muslim
countries do indeed seek to change their legal framework by various means,
including Quranic "feminist" or gender-sensitive exegesis and raising
legislators’ awareness of a more progressive interpretation of Islam. These
researchers and activists try to help people to perceive the double bind that
they experience; on the one hand, that of traditionalism or fundamentalism and
political Islam and, on the other, that of Islamophobia or the discrimination
that they encounter in western countries in their quest for alliances or for
legitimacy. The fact is that Islamic feminists in western countries, and
especially in
Muslims, friends &
supporters in
French Feminism and
Anti-Racism
Laure Berenin of the
- Marxist / radical,
materialist feminism, which founded the struggle for the emancipation
of women on the basis of a"sex/class struggle," as defined by
researchers such as Christine Delphy and Monique Wittig who refer to
anti-racist issues in terms of feminist questions: culture as a whole is oppressive
to women.
- Academic feminism,
represented for example by the philosopher and feminist scholar, Elsa
Dorlin, who introduced the concept of intersectionality to France; the
anthropologist Nacira Guénif-Souilamas who offers a typology of racialized
and sexualized figures in the French discourses on immigration and
identity; or the sociologist Eric Fassin who makes explicit the links between
sexual issues and racial issues through, for example, the concept of
"sexual whiteness".
- Institutional feminism as
epitomized by the equal political representation (parité) movements of
the 90s, which recently led to the creation of the first Ministry of
Women's Rights in
-“Ghetto” mediatized
Feminism, for example, with Ni putes Ni Soumises, Ni Voilées, Ni violées,
prosecular identity-based, populist feminism from the suburbs.
-“Islamophobic” feminism,
represented by Anne Zelensky, co-founder of the MLF in the 70s
and recently participating in the Conference of Islamisation in
- Indigenized feminism,
finally, with the movement (now party) Indigènes de la République
with spokeswoman Houria Bouteldja, who manages to apply post-colonial
analysis to the French case and has an in-depth analysis of the
relationship between feminism and anti-racism.
However, in my opinion,
feminists in
Non-Victimization
and Double Bind
What
seems intolerable to the reactionary narrative is non-victimization. While
western rights are the first to vilify the Muslim domination of women,
their words imply that "dominated" women themselves do not want
to participate in their liberation. It is intolerable to be faced with someone
who is seen as a victim and who yet considers himself as a free being.
Recognizing multiple forms of oppression while refusing victimization is a
powerful means of struggle rooted in the struggles of Black feminism in the
The Veil Provocation
Zahra
Ali, the main Islamic feminist theoretician in
Thus, French Muslim women
have a faith that the researcher identified as "born again", unearned
but in some ways reinvented, mainly fuelled by agency, in itself a post-modern
tool. "The adherence to Islam is spiritualized in the discourse of these
women, the divine is synonymous with love, and religion is seen as a support,
an additional resource, a choice that gives preference to the meaning, the
intrinsic logic of Islam, rather than to belonging to a socio-ethnic group.”
This strategy refers to
what Amelie Le Renard identifies among feminists in
Beyond the individual, or
personal and cultural dimension of Islam appropriated by women, Islamic
feminism in
Intersectionality
Knowledge of religion by a
gender sensitive exegesis, coupled with awareness of intra-community and
societal oppression, empower French Islamic feminists. Unconscious colonial
representations, highlighted by the law on religious symbols in public places,
founded the context from which Islamic feminists in
In these times of
generalized backwardness, it is necessary for French feminist movements to take
into account the double bind that these movements meet in their struggles. Only
an intersectional French feminism can allow for the building of transnational
alliances to support the struggles of liberation and emancipation of women and
step out of the universalism/cultural relativism dichotomy or, as in the French
case, the confrontation between identity politics and the Republican rejection
of any form of differentiation. In the French context, traditional feminism
must seize on intersectionality if it is to support Islamic feminists. And use
this outstanding conceptual tool to embrace the issues that cross French
society at this juncture.
Notes:
1 Stéphanie Latte Abdallah,
« Les féminismes islamiques au tournant du XXIe siècle », Revue des mondes
musulmans et de la Méditerranée, December 2010
2 Laure Berenin,
“Accounting for French Feminism’s Blindness to Difference: The Inescapable
Legacy of Universalism”,NYU Symposium:“Feminism/s Without Borders: Perspectives
from
3 The National Union of
Students of
4 Caroline De Haas, «
L'interdit vestimentaire : un instrument constant de la domination masculine à
travers les âges »,September 2009
5 Amélie Le Renard, «
Lectures et usages féministes de l’islam », La Vie des idées, January 2013,
6 Zahra Ali, « Des
musulmanes en