Jamaat-e-Islami women in Pakistan : vanguard of a new modernity? /

Jamal, a Pakistani American sociologist (Ryerson Univ., Canada), has written a sophisticated critical analysis of the intellectual and political dimensions of an Islamist project aimed at women in Pakistan. Her focus is on the female leadership of the women's wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami political party and women's role in the transformation of Pakistani society. The book illustrates the interrelationship of religion, politics, and gender in a Muslim nation-state. It reveals the complexity and pitfalls inherent in some of Pakistan's publicly debated issues, which include the status of women and Islamist politics, Western-style feminism and Islam, and the impact of modernization and development on Pakistan's cultural identity and heritage. Basing her analysis on in-depth interviews with 15 or so members of Jamaat's core female leadership, as well as extensive observation and participation in party activities, Jamal convincingly argues that these women are not hostage to a hard-line conservative Islam or victims of a Western-inspired secularist feminism. She represents them as autonomous agents actively engaged in charting their way to modernity while holding true to their Muslim religion and their South Asian cultural heritage. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels/libraries. A. Rassam emerita, CUNY Queens College