Ink and Intellekt Reading Club - Modernity and Islam - Feminism

About this Club

This is a reading club that is meant to help us engage in the history of ideas that are pervasive in the modern world and are relevant for our understanding of reality and Islam. The facilitator Dr. Sinan will present on the topic after which participants will be drawn into group discussions based on the readings provided (to those who sign up). We will also have a bonus guest speaker for this event (details provided below).
About this Session
Feminism is a hotly debated ideology within the Muslim community. Discourse over the rights of women, and concepts of patriarchy as well as misogyny has invited lots of engagement and rebuttals in the online space. Yet, most of these discussions are often discussing second and third order effects without examining the historical context of the rise of feminism as well as its first principles. Against this backdrop, we intend to read through the origins and development of feminism in the West and in other parts of the world. This reading session is a continuation of various sessions done before where we engaged with topics such as liberalism, nation states and nationalism and secularism
(You do not need to have attended the previous one to be here)
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In this session we will:
• Explore the origins of feminist thought within Western society came from and how it was rooted in post enlightenment liberal philosophy.
• Understand the three waves of feminism and its context
• Look at the relation between capitalism, the nation state and feminism
• Understand some concepts around Gender contained within Islamic thought
• Explain how to look at Feminism from an Epistemological lens
In addition, we look at some bonus aspects including
Social media and its role in stoking gender wars
How Feminism is applied in countries outside of the West such as India
Intersections of Imperial and liberal feminism and its role in Islamophobia
The Online session will consist of readings, presentation, Q and A and one short discussion session (depending on time)
Meet your Facilitator
This session will be led by Dr Mohammed Sinan Siyech, a Lectuer of International Relations at Wolverhampton University. He has previously taught at King’s College London (KCL), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), and the University of Edinburgh. He has written extensively focusing on political, religious, and security issues on various countries and societies. Beyond academia, he has contributed to global think tanks like the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore and Equi, a think tank focused on British Muslims.