Women, Activism, and the Arts

Abstract

This special issue of al-Raida is devoted to women, activism, and the arts in the Arab world – a subject that was not chosen at random. Women and creativity has always been a topic of interest in the discipline of Women’s Studies, and this issue in particular has as its focus the ways in which women of the Arab diaspora channel their creativity in a positive way in order to develop tools of consciousness-raising and a means of actively participating in the history – past, present, and future – of their own communities and countries as well as of the world in general.

Women’s voices in diaspora: hip hop, spoken word, Islam and web 2.0

“…These new cultural producers challenge and question concepts such as gender, multiculturalism, belonging, ethnicity, religion and even culture itself, and demand that their interpretations are considered, harnessing the transnational reach of expressive culture to deconstruct ascribed positions of otherness and subalternity. As this paper shows, music and performance can create and maintain networks of access and sharing of information and knowledge on a transnational scale, in line with the functions attributed to the artist practice by cooke (2001), El Saawadi (1997) and Toman (2009): catharsis, memory, social protest, creation of communities, identity positioning. Such cultural and social practices expand the public sphere at various levels, inserting multiple and complex identities that Habermas (1991) did not consider, such as gender or religion, creating alternative and inclusive public spheres through social and cultural acts which reveal processes of globalization from below, creating communities that are fluid and open to transnational participation.…”

“…cooke (2001) indicates the potential of poetry produced by Muslim women as an instrument of subversion and even protection, with a wide range of objectives, be it advocacy for women's rights, advocacy for global causes (peace and disarmament) or specific causes, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, or even advocacy for the simple right of being an artist, demonstrating how this practice acquires multiple functions -memory, catharsis, empowerment, sharing, creating communities and networks, but also destroying stereotypes, both Orientalist and patriarchal. El Saadawi (1997) had already equated creativity with social protest, considering that artistic practices imply sensitivity regarding social injustices and all forms of discrimination and, in this sense, constitute a form of activism; also, Toman (2009) argues that artistic creation has the potential to become a means of communication and activism common to diasporic Muslim women, and a catalyst for social change and reform. Art, as the focus of imagination, constitutes an individual and/or collective form of expression, drawing on shared experiences: in Arjun Appadurai's (1990) vision of a globalized world as a site of confluence of different landscapes, it is precisely the intersection of mediatic, imaginative, economic and labour landscapes, with their commonalities and divergences, that allows for the creation of innovative, fluid cultural productions, for multiple actors occupying multiple spaces, consumed by an even more dispersed community, for which the development of NTI is fundamental.…”

Vozes de mulheres em diáspora: hip hop, spoken word, Islão e web 2.0

“…El Saadawi (1997), equiparando criatividade com protesto social, considera que esta implica sensibilidade relativamente a injustiças sociais e a todas as formas de discriminação, pelo que constitui uma forma de ativismo. Também Toman (2009) afirma que a criação artística tem o potencial de ser um meio de comunicação e de ativismo comum às mulheres muçulmanas em diáspora, atribuindo-lhe a função de catalisador para mudança social e reforma. A arte, foco da imaginação, constitui uma forma individual e/ou coletiva de expressão e desenha pertenças no seio de experiências partilhadas: na visão de Arjun Appadurai (1990) de um mundo globalizado a partir da confluência de diferentes paisagens, é precisamente a interseção de paisagens mediáticas, imaginativas, económicas, laborais -inclusiva das suas divergências -que permite que múltiplos atores em espaços múltiplos criem atos culturais inovadores, fluidos e híbridos, consumidos por uma comunidade de públicos ainda mais dispersa, para o qual o desenvolvimento de instrumentos de NTI é fundamental.…”

“…Estas novas produtoras culturais desafiam e questionam conceitos como género, multiculturalismo, pertença, etnia, religião e mesmo cultura, e exigem que as suas interpretações sejam consideradas, testemunhando o alcance transnacional da cultura expressiva na anulação de posições de alteridade e subalternidade. A música e a performance podem igualmente criar e manter redes de acesso e partilha de informação e conhecimento à escala transnacional, indo assim ao encontro das funções atribuídas à prática artista por cooke (2001), El Saawadi (1997) e Toman (2009): catarse, memória, protesto social, criação de comunidades, posicionamento identitário. É a partir das suas práticas culturais e sociais que elas expandem a esfera pública a vários níveis, forçando a inserção de complexidades identitárias que Habermas (1991) não considerou, como o género ou a religião, criando esferas públicas alternativas e inclusivas, através de atos sociais e culturais que revelam processos de globalização a partir de baixo, criando comunidades fluidas e abertas à participação transnacional.…”