In this special issue of Feminist Dissent, we are calling for a new interpretive framework that recognises the multiple genealogies that have contributed to binary constructs of the Western/secular versus the authentic/religious; takes into account the different power positionalities of those engaging in global and national struggles temporally and spatially; challenges the static binarism of religious versus secular that obfuscates the plurality of framings and identities around which women and men mobilise for social justice and does not shy away from the question of accountability for equality outcomes.
Table of contents
Challenging Binaries to Promote Women’s Equality – Introduction to Special Issue
Mariz Tadros and Ayesha Khan
The Pitfalls of Disentangling Women’s Agency from Accountability for Gender Equality Outcomes: The Case of Egypt
Mariz Tadros
Travelling Critique Anti-imperialism, Gender and Rights Discourses
Hoda Elsadda
Culture/ Religion/ Tradition vs Modern/ Secular/ Foreign Implications of Binary Framings for Women’s Rights in Nigeria
Chitra Nagarajan
This Is Not A Feminist Poem
Wana Udobang
Moving Beyond the Binary Gender-based Activism in Pakistan
Ayesha Khan, Nida Kirmani
We Sinful Women
Kishwar Naheed
Binary Framings, Islam and Struggle for Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh
Sohela Nazneen
Excerpts from the writings of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
Rokeya Hossain
Azza Karam on the implications of binary framings for western actors
Azza Karam
Hina Jilani on the value of the rights discourse in the context of political Islam: Excerpts from an interview with Ayesha Khan
Hina Jilani, Khan Ayesha
Who are the liberators of Raqqa?
Rahila Gupta