The scholarship on Middle East politics has disproportionately focused on the dearth of democracy and democratic practices in the region, and the factors that may account for this; few, if any, other regions of the world have been subjected to such relentless scrutiny. Explanations have focused on the ‘inherent incompatibility between Islam and democracy, the ‘resource’ curse, and the geo-politics of the region. In recent years, scholars have added a new variable to the debate drawing correlations between the ‘disadvantaged’ position of women in these societies and the inauspicious prospects for democratization (Fish, 2002; Inglehard & Norris, 2003; Donno &Russett, 2004; Ross, 2008). Drawing on different causal mechanisms, these scholars have argued, that in fact, the ‘problematic’ status of women in these societies has contributed to women’s limited political participation and influence, and to the region’s democratic deficit. The quest to understand the relationship between women’s status and the broader political context, especially relating to regime-types in the region are not new; a body of well developed scholarship has examined these relationships at length. These earlier works established that the relationship between female empowerment, the strength of women’s movements and their political influence, and regime-type was by no means straightforward; the most dramatic expansion in Arab women’s rights took place under the Arab socialist regimes during a key period of authoritarian consolidation between the 1950s and 1970s. These advances in women’s rights and increased female labor participation were often accompanied by loss of autonomy for the women’s movements. Despite the originality and scope of the research questions advanced by these authors, both bodies of literature do not adequately address the breadth of factors which shape the efficacy of women’s movements in these societies. The more recent body of literature which draws correlations between women’s status and democratic performance points to data selectivity bias, easily disputed causal explanations, and is impervious to women’s histories in these regions. The second body of literature, although historically grounded, almost relies exclusively on regime/state strategies to determine changes in the strength of women’s movements and their ability to promote women’s empowerment in particular societies. Examining different cases in the Arab world, this paper illustrates how the potential of women’s movements to advance women’s status in a given society and impact democratic performance is shaped by both structural, as well as strategic factors, and seldom by the socio-economic status of women.

The social and legal status of Iranian women has been an enigma ever since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. While during the initial stage of the revolution both secular and religious urban women voiced their support for the Islamic Revolution, their paths separated soon thereafter, with the religious falling in line within the dictates of Ayatollah Khomeini while the secular continued to press for gender equality and civil rights. However, since the Presidency of Mr. Ahmadinejad, Iranian women both secular and religious have managed to forge a new movement by pressing for new demands, previously unprecedented in the Islamic Republic. This paper is a study of the women’s movement in contemporary Iran in its effort to press for a new set of social, political and legal reforms within the Islamic Republic, using the media, the internet and mass mobilization of public opinion. The contemporary women’s movement has also managed to present an entirely different perspective on the demands and aspiration of women’s social and legal rights in Iran, one that is profoundly different from the conservative views envisaged by the founder, Ayatollah Khomeini or the current conservative clerics within the Council of Guardians. Iranian women, both secular and religious have been able to work on common grounds to prevent or limit the passage of controversial bills in Parliament (Majlis). To project a viable alternative, women leaders have presented new and contemporary interpretation (tafsir) of Islamic jurisprudence. The paper aims to show how the new women’s movement managed to force the issue of women’s rights onto the presidential agenda during the 2009 elections, and how, following the widely disputed results, the women’s movement forged an alliance with the Green Movement, gaining further publicity and wider national and international support. The paper provides further evidence that despite setbacks, arrests and harassment by the government, the new women’s movement has continued its struggle. It has managed to press for change, articulating women’s demands, promoting social awareness and democratic action. Indeed, this new identity is recognized by a broad cross section of the Iranians and across social classes. Some of these demands seem to have had results as reflected in the new Iranian Penal Code approved by the conservative Council of Guardian and scheduled to be enforced beginning with the Persian New Calendar on March 20, 2012.

This paper analyzes the relationship between religion and women’s agency in late Ottoman Society by focusing on one of the most successful women’s magazines of the period, Han?mlara Mahsus Gazete (Ladies’ Own Gazette -LOG). Building upon the feminist literature on the relationship between religion and agency, it suggests that the limitations of what Saba Mahmood identified in her Politics of Piety (2005) as the “naturalization of liberal presuppositions in the scholarship on gender” become more apparent and more problematic in thinking about subjects who make claims for emancipation and religiosity simultaneously. Focusing on selected articles published in LOG, the paper argues that while the editors and contributors of this magazine depict religion as a site for Ottoman-Muslim women’s emancipation and progress, they neither appear to be pious subjects, nor to practice straightforward religious obedience. Rather, they approach religion and religiosity as one of the sites for socio-political critique, and as such, act as “non-pious believers.” Indeed, the source of these women’s ideas about their society and about their self-realization as women can be characterized as an eclectic mix of Islamic tradition, late-nineteenth century Ottoman social and political practices, as well as nineteenth-century European (and mainly French) feminisms. The first two sections of the paper historically and discursively contextualize LOG. While the first section briefly touches upon the historical specificity of late nineteenth-early twentieth century Ottoman society, the second section provides an overview of how the conventions of Islamic discourse and practice were gendered in this historical context. Then, the paper provides a close textual reading of the articles selected, first exploring the reading of Islam proposed by the writers and editors of LOG, and arguing that this reading illustrates how they promoted a critical religiosity, deploying religious knowledge as a resource for the betterment of women’s condition in society. Finally, the paper focuses on the issue of Ottoman-Muslim women’s public education, and argues that it is in LOG’s editors’ stance on this issue that we can find the most nuanced account of what “women’s emancipation” meant for LOG’s editors, writers, and readers.

The Ottoman imperial harem had a hierarchical structure that encompassed slave women of various ranks. Affiliation to the imperial court opened up access to various opportunities according to their status in the harem hierarchy. Royal concubines who were elevated to the status of valide sultan (sultan’s mother), following their sons’ succession to the throne, became the most influential women in the Ottoman Empire. These women acted as the chief administrative of the imperial harem, took on the charitable projects and engaged in architectural patronage activities. Conditions, especially those from the second half of the sixteenth century onwards, afforded the women of the imperial household remarkable power. In this period named the ‘sultanate of women’ valide sultans exerted extraordinary political influence and effectively ruled the empire. By most accounts, this period ended with the rise to power of the Köprülü Family of grand vezirs following delegation of political power by Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan in 1656. This paper focuses on Hatice Turhan Sultan’s daughter in law, Emetullah Rabia Gülnus Valide Sultan who, as mother to two sultans, Mustafa II and Ahmed III, remained as valide sultan for twenty years following the period of the ‘sultanate of women.’ It aims to reconstruct the experience of Gülnu? Valide Sultan and explore her role and position in the imperial court in a period which witnessed the rise of the vezir and pasha households. This study demonstrates how Gülnus Sultan acted as an important part of the political system. She engaged in various aspects of political culture such as gift- giving and participation in public ceremonies, she cultivated networks of influence and patronage, played a critical role in important political decisions and had an influential position in diplomatic contacts with Europe. By demonstrating this position required political affiliation in any case, this paper argues that the end of the period of the ‘sultanate of women’ did not mean an end to the power and influence of valide sultans. It also contributes to the fact that the socio- political environment of any period had a determining factor in the role and position of valide sultans. Finally, this paper offers conclusions concerning not only the internal functioning of the imperial court but also place of women in the political system.

Violence against women is a serious problem in Turkey. According to the results of the research conducted by the Prime Ministry Family Research Institute, there was evidence of physical violence in 34% of Turkish families and there were cases of verbal violence of a severe intensity in 53% of Turkish families. The results of the research conducted among Turkish women indicate that almost half of these women are exposed to economic, psychological, financial or sexual violence. Thus, almost one in every two Turkish women living in Turkey is exposed to violence. These forms of violence occur in various groups of society and cannot be ascribed to just one specific culture or religion. Often based on certain values and notions, perpetrated by people invoking tradition, they constitute serious violations of human rights. Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors that can trigger violence such as sociocultural, economic, and psychological factors in the environment where people grow up. This paper proposes to clarify three issues. First, it aims to find out how individuals of a Muslim background perceive and define violence against women in Turkey. Secondly, it will reveal whether there has been a marked improvement or a regression in women’s rights after the recent changes in Turkey related to these issues. Finally, from an interdisciplinary and comparative approach it will shed light on how the people’s conceptions of women’s rights violations and violence against women are shaped, from which sources these conceptions are reinforced and whether Islam is among these sources or not.

A document was sent to imperial Istanbul from a Jewish Rabbi in Ottoman Damascus on how to banish the female singers since they affect the spirituality negatively, and another document from the Patriarchy asking the Christians of Istanbul to prevent using Jewish garments as a deriding figure during the Passover, imply how the visibility or religion and perception of sanctity gained salience and became a discourse by the late nineteenth century. Also, the prohibition of the postcards with the women, mosques and holy verses to pass the Ottoman customs, since handing over the ‘sacred deeds’ was not permissible, reveals how official documents addressed the representations of religion. Since contemporary outfits of Muslim as well as non-Muslim Ottoman women were ‘oriental’, the Ottomans did not want their subjects to be an object for a set of different discourses about both the Ottomanness and religion in Europe. However women became in internal issue being discussed even at the text books, including the Ilmihal and the Musar books, a genre about the basics of Islam and Judaism. Yet, the rise of women as a discourse was a result of a cumulative change, in which religion also was discussed as a representation, thus being mostly a visible identity. This paper questions the ‘issue of women’ in early twentieth century in the wider framework of how representations of religion were underlined in a society that experienced a liminality during changing ‘boundaries of the modern world’ when nation states were being established. This paper will examine the only namaz hocasi or ilmihal written by a woman, Muallim Kamer Hanim , who was awarded with an official medal and whose book was used as a text book. I will also examine the other ilmihal books including the Christian Ilmihali, Musar books, and the ahlaq and adab books of that period.