Women's rebellion and Islamic memory

Chronicling ten years of research, this book presents a sustained analysis of the position of women in the world of contemporary Islam. One of our most important feminist thinkers here makes a major contribution to the theorization of gender roles and sexual identity in the Islamic world. The book first explores some of the concrete issues fundamental to status of Muslim women, such as the production of statistics which mask women's contribution to the economies of Arab states. Mernissi also looks at a variety of demographics including education and literacy - she shows their importance not only for empowering women but also for improving their health. She analyses the role of the state in prescribing women's roles, activities and spheres, and explores the insidious consequences of state-supported inequality - not only for women but also for the creative and spiritual life of a culture. Mernissi goes on to look at the position of women in Islamic thought and history and the construction of femininity in the Muslim unconscious. She presents a sustained analysis of some of the formulations of gender - such as the conflation of female rationality with unbridled sexuality. She also demonstrates the existence of a more open Islam at its historical origins, from which subsequent constructions emerge as strongly partisan. Throughout, Mernissi stresses how vital the emancipation of women is for the development of the Arab world. Showing the recent development of thought of one of our foremost intellectuals, this analysis of the position of Islamic women will be essential reading for students and academics in women's studies, sociology, middle eastern studies and social theory.