Between Secularism and Islamism: Theorising Libyan Womanhood Post-Gaddafi

世俗主义与伊斯兰主义之间：卡扎菲后利比亚女性的理论化

• 批准号: 2881368
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Edinburgh
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2881368
• 关键词: Between; Secularism; Islamism; Theorising; Libyan

The transformation of Libyan political culture (following the revolution in 2011) has coincided with an insurgence of feminist activism across the country, as women collectively enter the public sphere for the first time since the Islamisation of Libyan society in the 1970s. Accompanying this change is the uncritical acceptance (by numerous academics) of the narrative that places secularism in opposition to Islamism. This narrative often dominates the conversation surrounding contemporary Libyan politics and ultimately places Libyan women at the intersection of religion, secularism and localised patriarchy. Given this, my thesis aims to explore how local Libyan women's rights activists and/or feminists shape their activism around conversations pitting Islam against secularism.Considering the discursive issues presented within definitions of feminism, secularism and Islamism, I use the three terms here as a placeholder for a more nuanced treatment to follow in my thesis.Context and Contribution: It is no exaggeration to claim that scholarship on Libya has been neglected by academics, making her the least understood country in the Middle East and North Africa. Analysis of the predicament of women in particular is almost nonexistent (Spadaro and Yew, 2020). As Libya transitions away from Gadaffi's regime there has been increased interest from the global community in Libya's politics. However, given the lack of research into the country, research regarding her politics is conducted in isolation of Libya's social context. This perpetuates a narrow view of Libya's political context whereby the (alleged) clash of secular principles and Islamic law takes centre stage. This narrative assumes that ideology is the singular driving force for politics in Libya, despite the existence of other factors at play. The question of how gender impacts political participation must therefore be addressed. Historically, women have conducted their activism by drawing upon individual experiences this is in stark contrast to patriarchal activism which often inspires a national identity (Badran, 1994). This highlights the importance of moving beyond the discourse of secularism and Islamism which is conducted through a nationalist lens, to accurately theorise the lives of Libyan women. The lack of context into Libyan culture risks essentialising Libyan politics and perpetuates a patriarchal reading of Libyan lived experiences. My thesis aims to address these concerns by resisting essentialist and patriarchal readings of Libyan society and instead, uncover how Libyan women are affected by such discourse. Methodology: I will prioritise the use of primary sources including interviews, focus groups and document analysis within a decolonial theoretical framework. As an insider, I am well placed to conduct such research as I have knowledge of the country, I am familiar with the colloquial dialect and culture, and I possess a network base. I plan to use these credentials to create a purposive sample of women from feminist organisations to decipher how they interpret, view and engage with secularism and Islamism. My thesis seeks to conduct a discursive analysis of Libyan feminist viewpoints through the decolonial interview method of testimonies and storytelling. My choice to use such methods is to help shift the colonial power imbalance within academia (T. Smith, 2021) and to encourage in-depth answers from interviewees, whilst also leaving potential to be exposed to other discourses that may not yet have presented themselves to academics. Thirty recorded interviews should comfortably produce enough data to answer my questions. I intend to undertake this fieldwork in my second year of study (October 2023 until April 2024), primarily in Benghazi and Tripoli. Additionally, I aim to discern any mainstream narratives surrounding women through a discourse analysis of Libyan media. I possess an awareness of the political disposition of Libyan media

利比亚政治文化的转变（2011 年革命之后）与全国各地女权主义活动的兴起同时发生，自 20 世纪 70 年代利比亚社会伊斯兰化以来，妇女首次集体进入公共领域。伴随这一变化的是（许多学者）不加批判地接受世俗主义与伊斯兰主义对立的叙述。这种叙述经常主导围绕当代利比亚政治的对话，并最终将利比亚妇女置于宗教、世俗主义和地方父权制的交汇点。鉴于此，我的论文旨在探讨利比亚当地妇女权利活动家和/或女权主义者如何围绕伊斯兰教与世俗主义的对话塑造她们的行动主义。考虑到女权主义、世俗主义和伊斯兰主义定义中提出的话语问题，我在这里使用这三个术语作为占位符，以便在我的论文中进行更细致的处理。背景和贡献：毫不夸张地说，有关利比亚的学术研究已被学者们忽视，使她中东和北非最不为人所知的国家。尤其是对女性困境的分析几乎不存在（Spadaro 和 Yew，2020）。随着利比亚摆脱卡扎菲政权的过渡，国际社会对利比亚政治的兴趣日益浓厚。然而，由于缺乏对该国的研究，有关她的政治的研究是在孤立利比亚的社会背景的情况下进行的。这延续了对利比亚政治背景的狭隘观点，即（所谓的）世俗原则与伊斯兰法的冲突成为焦点。这种叙述假设意识形态是利比亚政治的唯一驱动力，尽管存在其他因素在起作用。因此，必须解决性别如何影响政治参与的问题。从历史上看，女性通过利用个人经验来开展行动，这与经常激发民族认同的父权行动形成鲜明对比（Badran，1994）。这凸显了超越通过民族主义视角进行的世俗主义和伊斯兰主义话语的重要性，以准确地理论化利比亚妇女的生活。缺乏对利比亚文化的了解可能会导致利比亚政治变得本质化，并使对利比亚生活经历的父权式解读永久化。我的论文旨在通过抵制对利比亚社会的本质主义和父权制解读来解决这些问题，并揭示利比亚妇女如何受到这种话语的影响。方法论：我将优先使用主要来源，包括在非殖民理论框架内的访谈、焦点小组和文件分析。作为一个内部人士，我有能力进行这样的研究，因为我对这个国家有了解，我熟悉方言和文化，我有网络基础。我计划利用这些凭据有目的地创建女权主义组织中的女性样本，以解读她们如何解释、看待和参与世俗主义和伊斯兰主义。我的论文旨在通过证词和讲故事的非殖民访谈方法对利比亚女权主义观点进行话语分析。我选择使用此类方法是为了帮助改变学术界内部的殖民权力失衡（T. Smith，2021）并鼓励受访者进行深入的回答，同时也留下接触其他可能尚未出现的话语的潜力给学者。三十次录音采访应该可以轻松地产生足够的数据来回答我的问题。我打算在学习的第二年（2023 年 10 月至 2024 年 4 月）进行这项实地考察，主要是在班加西和的黎波里。此外，我的目标是通过对利比亚媒体的话语分析来辨别有关女性的主流叙事。我了解利比亚媒体的政治倾向