WLUML panel at the AWID Forum
Source:
WLUML Secularism as an alternative to fundamentalisms: questions for feminists
This meeting is being held at the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID) 10th AWID International Forum on Women's Rights and Development, October 27-30, 2005, in Thailand.
Secularism as an Alternative to Fundamentalisms: Questions for Feminists
Friday 14:00-16:30 #113
Room: Ballroom 2 | Translation: SP, FR, TH
Come & debate & discuss: this may not be comfortable but it will be lively!
Panellists:
Soheib Bencheikh
The Mufti of Marseilles and a determined secularist who sees secularism as Islam’s only chance of survival in Europe.
Vahida Nainar
Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, who asks how a Hindu fundamentalist movement grew and captured power in a secular India.
Vivienne Wee
City University Hong Kong, who challenges the presumption that secularism is a cure for patriarchal oppression and asks why we are now in an age of new patriarchies, both secular and religious.
Moderator:
Cassandra Balchin
Women Living Under Muslim Laws, who has more questions than answers.
For more than two decades, feminists have discussed the impact and mechanics of extreme right politico-religious forces and shared strategies of resistance against fundamentalisms. But, as feminists, we have yet to develop a coherent analysis of the concrete alternatives, which would allow us to move beyond resistance and be more pro-active in our advocacy for an alternative vision of society. In the context of globally rising extreme right politics justified with reference to religion, it is time to discuss secularisms in depth:
Friday 14:00-16:30 #113
Room: Ballroom 2 | Translation: SP, FR, TH
Come & debate & discuss: this may not be comfortable but it will be lively!
Panellists:
Soheib Bencheikh
The Mufti of Marseilles and a determined secularist who sees secularism as Islam’s only chance of survival in Europe.
Vahida Nainar
Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, who asks how a Hindu fundamentalist movement grew and captured power in a secular India.
Vivienne Wee
City University Hong Kong, who challenges the presumption that secularism is a cure for patriarchal oppression and asks why we are now in an age of new patriarchies, both secular and religious.
Moderator:
Cassandra Balchin
Women Living Under Muslim Laws, who has more questions than answers.
For more than two decades, feminists have discussed the impact and mechanics of extreme right politico-religious forces and shared strategies of resistance against fundamentalisms. But, as feminists, we have yet to develop a coherent analysis of the concrete alternatives, which would allow us to move beyond resistance and be more pro-active in our advocacy for an alternative vision of society. In the context of globally rising extreme right politics justified with reference to religion, it is time to discuss secularisms in depth:
- The ‘S’ word - is ‘secularism’ the new dirty word?
- Secularism(s) - singular or plural?
- Can Believers be secularists?
- If we don’t want fundamentalisms then what do we want?
- What does secularism mean to you & your context?
- Are secularisms ‘good’ or ‘bad’ news for women?
- What do we mean by ‘shrinking secular spaces’ and should feminists protect them?
- Can secular & faith-based feminist initiatives find common ground?
- Is there such a thing as ‘secular fundamentalism’?
- Does the separation of Church & State reinforce the private-public dichotomies that feminists have fought against?
