ABSTRACT
This paper explores how a small group of young Australian Muslim women are engaging with the discourses of gender, religion and culture in their lives. It draws on data gathered from a study that evaluated aprogramme designed to support learning and public action for human rights. The paper highlights these young women’s experiences of the double bind of racism and patriarchy in their lives around familial/community and public ideas about what it means to be a good Muslim woman. In light of this burden of representation, the paper draws attention to the ambivalences of responsibility and risk the young women express about speaking out against the issues that concern them. We conclude with a consideration of the significance community-driven and localized advocacy represents in Muslim women moving beyond the double bind.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1. ‘Syria’ and ‘Palestine’ of course refer to contemporary conflicts, while Manus and Nauru are shorthand for Australia’s offshore detention facilities in those locations for asylum-seekers who arrive on Australian territory by boat.
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Notes on contributors
Amanda Keddie
Amanda Keddie is a Professor of Education within the Research for Educational Impact (REDI) Strategic Research Centre at Deakin University. Her published work examines the broad gamut of schooling processes, practices and conditions that can impact on the pursuit of social justice in schools. She is the author of Supporting and Educating Young Muslim Women: Stories from Australia and the UK (Routledge)
ORCiD ID: 0000-0001-6111-0615
Taghreed Jamal Al Deen
Taghreed Jamal Al Deen is an associate research fellow for the UNESCO Chair, Cultural Diversity and Social Justice at the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization. Her research focuses on inequality in education, class, gender, and ethnic and religious diversity.
Shakira Hussein
Shakira Hussein is an honorary fellow based at National Centre of Islamic Studies at The University of Melbourne. She is the author of From Victims to Suspects: Muslim Women Since 9/11 (Yale University Press).
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5903-5847
Alexandra Miftah Russ
Alexandra Miftah Russ, is a casework manager and researcher with the Australian Muslim Women’s Centre for Human Rights. She has worked within grass-roots community organizations for over 2 decades, focusing on rights, equity and access for women and children.