Nadje Al-Ali

The limits to 'transnationalism': Bosnian and Eritrean refugees in Europe as emerging transnational communities

This article explores limitations on the concept of transnationalism, through examination of two empirical case studies of communities characterized by emerging transnational practices. Mirroring recent shifts of attention in studies of transnational migration away from US-based examples of established migrant workers, the article focuses on Bosnian refugees in the UK and The Netherlands, and Eritrean refugees in the UK and Germany. It stresses the importance of historical context, and the interconnection of social, political and institutional factors in producing highly uneven patterns of transnational activities both within and between these two groups.

Gendering the Arab Spring

The article discusses the gendered implications of recent political developments in the region. It argues that women and gender are key to both revolutionary and counter-revolutionary processes and developments and not marginal to them. It explores the significance of women’s involvement, the historical context of women’s political participation and marginalization in political transition. Theoretically, developments in the region point to the centrality of women and gender when it comes to constructing and controlling communities, be they ethnic, religious or political; the significance of the state in reproducing, maintaining and challenging prevailing gender regimes, ideologies, discourses and relations; the instrumentalization of women’s bodies and sexualities in regulating and controlling citizens and members of communities; the prevalence of gender-based violence; the historically and cross-culturally predominant construction of women as second-class citizens; the relationship between militarization and a militarized masculinity that privileges authoritarianism, social hierarchies and tries to marginalize and control not only women but also non-normative men.

women's organizing and the conflict in Iraq since 2003

This article examines the development of a womens movement in Iraq since the invasion in 2003. It describes the types of activities and the strategies of different women activists, as well as highlighting the main divisions among them. The article also discusses the various ways in which the ongoing occupation and escalating violence in Iraq has shaped womens activism and the object of their struggles. Communal and sectarian tensions had been fostered by the previous regime as well as by the political opposition in exile prior to 2003, but the systematic destruction of national institutions, such as the army and the police, by the occupation forces, has led to a flare-up of the sectarian conflict. The article concludes by evaluating womens activism in terms of its contributions to conflict on the one hand and national reconciliation on the other.

The pure and powerful : studies in contemporary Muslim society

The major part of this book is devoted to the study of the social life at the shrine of al-Sayyida Zaynab in Cairo. As granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, al-Sayyida Zaynab is regarded by many as the patron saint of women. Their belief in her purity, and hence her powers, is part of the fabric of their thought. Al-Sayyida Zaynabs anniversary is an occasion observed by both government and people, and on the Great Night at the end of a week of celebrations, womens special association is expressed through a night-long vigil culminating in dawn festivities. The other studies in the book include analyses of the practices of the common person in the performance of certain rituals, such as the rain rituals in Tunisia. Throughout the work, the author seeks to break down the assumptions and stereotypes expressed in other studies on Muslim societies and provides us with a more accurate picture of how the Islamic tradition is developed and integrated within these societies.

Feminist Dilemmas in (Counter-) Revolutionary Egypt

The article discusses feminist dilemmas in Egypt in the context of polarised positions between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military.

War Is like a Blanket: Feminist Convergences in Kurdish and Turkish Women's Rights Activism for Peace

Despite the recent outbreak of violence and conflict, peace continues to be high on the agenda of the Kurdish political movement and many progressive Turkish intellectuals and activists. Based on qualitative research we conducted in Diyarbakır, Istanbul, London, and Berlin in 2015–16, we show that Kurdish activists have struggled to make the eradication of gender-based inequalities and violence central to the wider Kurdish peace movement, while Turkish women’s rights activists have increasingly recognized that the war against the Kurds, “like a blanket,” often papers over gender injustices. Both Kurdish and Turkish activists stress the necessity of understanding that a just and sustainable peace must include gender equality and that gender justice cannot be achieved in times of war. Thus feminist convergences in Kurdish and Turkish activism present peace and women’s rights as inseparable and generate the potential to challenge nationalist state power and the militarization of society.

Transnational Feminist Solidarity in Times of Crisis

This review was published in International Feminist Journal of Politics [© 2015 Taylor & Francis] and the definite version is available at: https://www.google.com/search?q=10.1080%2F14616742.2015.1088226&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b The article website is at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616742.2015.1088226?needAccess=true

Sexual violence in Iraq: Challenges for transnational feminist politics:

The article discusses sexual violence by ISIS against women in Iraq, particularly Yezidi women, against the historical background of broader sexual and gender-based violence. It intervenes in feminist debates about how to approach and analyse sexual and wider gender-based violence in Iraq specifically and the Middle East more generally. Recognizing the significance of positionality, the article argues against dichotomous positions and for the need to look at both macrostructural configurations of power pertaining to imperialism, neoliberalism and globalization on the one hand, and localized expressions of patriarchy, religious interpretations and practices and cultural norms on the other hand. Finally, the article reflects on the question of what a transnational feminist solidarity might look like in relation to sexual violence by ISIS.

We don’t do Numbers! Reimagining Gender and Selves

We are a team of female Iraqi academics of different disciplinary, and generational backgrounds, based in different locations (Irada and Inass in Baghdad; Huda in Amman and Nadje, the half-Iraqi in London). We all have very different life experiences and relations to Iraq. Irada is both an academic in media studies but also an established writer; Huda is an economist; Inass a political scientist and Nadje, the PI of the team, is an anthropologist specializing in gender studies. All of us are also involved in women’s rights and wider civil society activism. What brought us together is passion for our work and a commitment to bring about change for the better.

Clashes, collaborations and convergences: evolving relations of Turkish and Kurdish women’s rights activists

ABSTRACT This article discusses the various ways the Kurdish women’s movement has impacted feminism in the Turkish context. Against the background of the problematic historical relationship between Turkish and Kurdish women’s rights activists, the article explores the shift in perceptions of, attitudes towards and relations of feminists in Turkey with the Kurdish women’s movement. The article shows that a ‘new generation of feminists’ in Turkey appreciates and is inspired by the Kurdish women’s movement, and rejects the Kemalist and nationalist undertones of earlier generations. Without wanting to belittle on-going nationalism and the rise of women’s cadres linked to the authoritarian Turkish regime, the article analyses the various ways the intersectional long-term struggle of Kurdish women is being perceived, recognized and critically engaged with by many Turkish feminist activists.