Religious Fundamentalisms and Their Gendered Impacts in Asia
Amidst growing uncertainties in a globalised world, fundamentalist convictions have been gaining ground in many religions.
Reinforced by the threat from international terrorism, this renaissance of religious fundamentalisms has created ideological conditions for polarisation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, from community to transnational level. At national level, it has affected both politics and society, leading tosomething of a ‘retraditionalisation’ of gender roles. The understanding of fundamentalism is often one-dimensional, however, and dominatedby the fi gure of the male Muslim. In fact, fundamentalism is multifaceted and rooted in different religious and cultural contexts. However, among the vast diversity of religions, cultures and peoples in Asia, a number of common features can be discerned with regard to religious fundamentalisms and gender.
[The above is an excerpt from the preface of: Claudia Derichs & Andrea Fleschenberg, eds.,Religious Fundamentalisms and Their Gendered Impacts in Asia, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung: Berlin 2010.]
Amidst growing uncertainties in a globalised world, fundamentalist convictions have been gaining ground in many religions.
Reinforced by the threat from international terrorism, this renaissance of religious fundamentalisms has created ideological conditions for polarisation between ‘us’ and ‘them’, from community to transnational level. At national level, it has affected both politics and society, leading tosomething of a ‘retraditionalisation’ of gender roles. The understanding of fundamentalism is often one-dimensional, however, and dominatedby the fi gure of the male Muslim. In fact, fundamentalism is multifaceted and rooted in different religious and cultural contexts. However, among the vast diversity of religions, cultures and peoples in Asia, a number of common features can be discerned with regard to religious fundamentalisms and gender.
[The above is an excerpt from the preface of: Claudia Derichs & Andrea Fleschenberg, eds.,Religious Fundamentalisms and Their Gendered Impacts in Asia, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung: Berlin 2010.]