In what ways do feminist, Islamic, and development discourses compete, converge, and conflict in contemporary constructions of gender and gender justice?

Jabbar, Pamela (2024). In what ways do feminist, Islamic, and development discourses compete, converge, and conflict in contemporary constructions of gender and gender justice? University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

TITLE
In What Ways Do Feminist, Islamic, and Development Discourses Compete, Converge, and Conflict in Contemporary Constructions of Gender and Gender Justice?

ABSTRACT
This thesis examines how an Islamic/Muslim Faith-Based Organisation in the UK, specifically Islamic Relief, engaged in the discourse on contemporary constructions of gender and gender justice during the ‘turn to religion’ period within International Development.

Methodology
A case study approach was employed, primarily based on interview data and analysis of Islamic Relief’s Gender Justice Policy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to prioritise the agentic experiences of a small group of policy-level faith actors/religious subjects. The research focused on participants' lived experiences and the organisational journey to develop a Gender Justice Policy by mobilising and operationalising religious knowledge to formally integrate gender considerations into their organizational context.

Theoretical Framework
A magpie approach was used, drawing on a range of critical theories and thinkers to create a set of analytical tools for an ascending analysis of power, as advocated by Michel Foucault. The theoretical framework includes:

Foucault: His concept of power dynamics from below was central to the analysis.
Said’s Orientalism: This discourse was explored throughout the thesis.
Spivak’s Epistemic Violence: Considered in the context of gender and knowledge production.
Butler’s Queer Theorization: Challenged gender binaries.
Hemmings’s Feminist Storytelling: Used to uncover the microscale mechanisms in the case study.
Findings

The study traces how exogenous and endogenous discourses within the Islamic, feminist, and development traditions often repeated, reproduced, and re-orientalised constructions of gender and gender justice praxis. These discourses surfaced and resurfaced within the case of Islamic Relief.

Contribution
Focusing on the micro-level analysis of power and experiences within one case, this thesis offers a detailed examination of the relations of power/knowledge and resistance. By exploring the agentic experiences of faith actors/religious subjects, it suggests that during the turn to religion era, the mechanism of Orientalist knowledge production about the ‘Other’ was transferred to faith actors in development, conceptualised as re-orientalism. The study demonstrates how competing, converging, and conflicting discourses play out and argues that these micro-mechanisms interact with macro and global mechanisms of ‘technologies of domination,’ indicating that orientalism remains unfinished within International Development.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):