In this extension of her important 2002 article in American Anthropologist,
Lila Abu-Lughod examines the problematic nature of the western discourse
surrounding Muslim women. In particular, she is interested in how western
political programs in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan use the status of
girls and women to validate their claims to occupy, colonize, or otherwise
meddle in Muslim countries’ internal affairs. Abu-Lughod shows how the
human rights discourse surrounding grim situations (often aggravated or
caused by western interventions and other maneuverings) relies on a kind of
one-downtrodden-Muslim-female-fits-all scenario. This book analyzes the
“idea of the Muslim woman,” a character often in need of western liberation,
and argues that the lives of Muslims are more complicated and nuanced than
the popular media would have us believe.
American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences