20/05/2024 12:15 - 13:15

HALL: LA PIRA - ROOM 2

Proponent: Picchi M.

Chair: Picchi M.

Speaker: Cargnelutti F., Macario G., Picchi M.

Who are the Muslim Sisters? Women make up about a quarter of the Muslim Brotherhood's militant base, a percentage that invites rethinking the stereotypical portrait of women as passive victims of Islamism. The Muslim Sisters' choice of militancy may seem paradoxical, given that the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest and largest Islamist organization, has historically opposed the tenets of gender equality as enshrined in international conventions. Why then should a woman use her agency to join a movement that opposes internationally recognized women's rights?
This presentation,  held in English, discusses the possible answers that the book L'ombra dei Fratelli proposes for this question. First, the author briefly summarizes the book's content, retracing the history of the so-called "woman's question" in Egypt throughout the twentieth century and beyond, up to the 2011 January revolution. Following the book's presentation, a debate with the discussants explores Western definitions of modernity and feminism, their postcolonial and decolonial critique, and the challenges of conducting research in West Asia and North Africa (WANA), especially within revolutionary and postrevolutionary contexts.