Rethinking the Interplay of Feminism and Secularism in a Neo-Secular Age

Abstract

The need to re-examine established ways of thinking about secularism and its relationship to feminism has arisen in the context of the confluence of a number of developments including: the increasing dominance of the 'clash of civilizations' thesis; the expansion of postmodern critiques of Enlightenment rationality to encompass questions of religion; and sustained critiques of the 'secularization thesis'. Conflicts between the claims of women's equality and the claims of religion are welldocumented vis-à-vis all major religions and across all regions. The ongoing moral panic about the presence of Islam in Europe, marked by a preoccupation with policing Muslim women's dress, reminds us of the centrality of women and gender power relations in the interrelation of religion, culture and the state. Added to postmodern and other critiques of the secular-religious binary, most sociological research now contradicts the equation of modernization with secularization. This article focuses on the challenges that these developments pose to politically oriented feminist thinking and practice. It argues that non-oppressive feminist responses require a new critical engagement with secularism as a normative principle in democratic, multicultural societies. To inform this process, the author maps and links discussions across different fields of feminist scholarship, in the sociology of religion and in political theory. She organizes the main philosophical traditions and fault lines that form the intellectual terrain at the intersection of feminism, religion and politics in two broad groups: feminist critiques of the Enlightenment critique of religion; and feminist scholarship at the critical edges of the Enlightenment tradition. The author argues that notwithstanding the fragmented nature of feminist debates in this area, common ground is emerging across different politically oriented approaches: all emphasize 'democracy' and the values that underpin it as the larger discursive frame in which the principle of secularism can be redefined with emancipatory intent in a neosecular age.

Women’s Circles and the Rise of the New Feminine: Reclaiming Sisterhood, Spirituality, and Wellbeing

“…For many secular feminists, until recently, religion was seen as an impediment to women's liberation. Hence, the long-standing 'disconnection' between religious and secular feminist perspectives across the disciplines that is grounded in the historically awkward relationship between feminism and religion in Western modernity (Aune 2011;Bracke 2008;Llewellyn and Trzebiatowska 2013;Longman 2008;Reilly 2011). Yet, today, the assumption that religion would simply always be oppressive to women, and the axiom that secularization accompanies gender equality and sexual liberty, are increasingly being called into question (Butler 2008;Scott 2009).…”

Muslim Women Managing Women's Shelters: Somaya, the Muslimwoman and Religion as Resource

“…These four strands of research have a close bearing on mainstream Western feminism, which is generally known as secular but is increasingly becoming involved in the rethinking of standpoints about religion (Reilly 2011;Midden 2012). It is my wish that this investigation of the ambivalent transformation of Somaya's selfpresentations will generate reflection, within Somaya and beyond, on what is at stake when the Islamic religion and Muslim identity are dissolved as a potential resource for feminist struggle.…”

Representations of Religion on the British Feminist Webzine The F Word

“…Today, in de-Christianized post-industrial Europe, religion has a marginal place in feminist discussions, both academic and public (Mahmood 2005;Reilly 2011). Most feminist organisations do not prioritise religion.…”