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Abstract
Recent calls for new geographies of religion draw attention to how religion shapes the formation of subjectivity. Focusing on pious Muslim women's new veiling practices in Istanbul, I chart possible geographical analyses not only of religion but also of secularism as the two phenomena intersect and compete with one another in complex and often contradictory ways. I approach veiling as a gendered embodied spatial practice that reveals the intertwined production of bodies and subjectivities. Social meanings, the wider political context and spatial regimes that govern everyday life, as well as individual experiences, shape the production of corporeal piety. For the case I analyze, the hegemonic ideology of secularism, the highly politicized issue of veiling, and the informal and formal restrictions on the headscarf all come into play. This analysis offers new insights about the geographies of the body, subjectivity, and the city by highlighting the significant role religion and secularism play in their production.
Des appels récents pour de nouvelles géographies de la religion soulignent la manière dont la religion détermine la formation de la subjectivité. En se concentrant sur les nouvelles pratiques de porter le foulard des femmes musulmanes pieuses à Istanbul, j'enregistre des analyses géographiques possibles non seulement de la religion mais aussi du laïcisme puisque les deux phénomènes interagissent et rivalisent l'un contre l'autre à travers des moyens complexes et souvent contradictoires. Je considère le port du foulard comme une pratique spatiale, incarnée et sexuée qui révèle la production entremêlée des corps et des subjectivités. Des significations sociales, le contexte politique élargi et les régimes spatiaux qui gouvernent le quotidien, ainsi que les expériences individuelles, déterminent la production de la piété corporelle. En ce qui concerne le cas que j'analyse, l'idéologie hégémonique de laïcité, l'issue extrêmement politisée du port du foulard, et les restrictions formelles et informelles sur le foulard entrent en jeu. Cette analyse donne des nouveaux regards sur les géographies du corps, de la subjectivité, et de la ville en mettant en lumière le rôle signifiant que la religion et le laïcisme jouent dans leurs productions.
Llamadas recientes por nuevas geografías de religión se llama atención a como la subjetividad está formado por la religión. Enfocando en las nuevas practicas de velarse de mujeres piadosas musulmanas de Estambul, hago un análisis geográfica, documentando como el religión y el secularismo se cruzan y se competen uno al otro en una manera compleja y contradictoria. Enfoco en como la practica de velarse está plasmada y está marcado por género y espacio, que se revela la producción entrelazada de cuerpos y subjetividades. La piedad corporal está influido por significados sociales, el contexto político y los régimen espaciales que se gobiernan la vida diaria, también como la experiencia individual. En este caso analizo la ideología hegemónica del secularismo, la tema polémica de velarse, y las restricciones formales y informales del velo. Este análisis se destaca la influencia de religión y el secularismo en la producción de nuevos entendimientos sobre la geografía del cuerpo, subjetividad, y la ciudad.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Veronica della Dora, Ethan Yorgason, Murat Es, and the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. This paper draws from research projects funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology at the University of Washington research grant, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Junior Faculty Development Award, and the National Science Foundation (Geography and Regional Science, Proposal No. 0722825). The latter is a collaborative project with Anna Secor; the title is ‘Collaborative Research: The Veiling-fashion Industry: Transnational Geographies of Islamism, Capitalism, and Identity.’
Notes
1 Secor suggests that we approach ‘religion’ as ‘a process through which we come to recognize our own subjectivity’ (2007a: 158) because ‘religion … refers to a way of becoming a subject, both to power and of power’ (2007a: 151). Leila Ahmed's (Citation1999) personal account of her experience of Islam while growing up in Egypt and in journeys beyond illustrates what she calls ‘women's Islam.’ She describes this Islam as very different from official and textual Islam and the Islam of mosques. Her narrative points to the multiple ways in which religion shapes one's sense of self, relations to others, and being in the world. Hers is an embodied understanding and living of Islam, an Islam mediated through her gendered body spaces that in turn shapes her body and who she is.
2 Holloway (Citation2003a, Citation2003b, Citation2006) examines embodied religious and spiritual practices of New Age and nineteenth-century séance.
3 Body space has been a productive site, or following Michel Foucault's analysis (especially in The History of Sexuality, Volumes 1–3; Foucault Citation1990 [1978], Citation1990 [1985], Citation1990 [1986]), the site par excellence, for examining the construction of subjectivities and the myriad workings of disciplinary power and both modern and (neo)liberal forms of governmentality. Gillian Rose (Citation1995: 545) more than a decade ago claimed that there was ‘a growing concern with the bodily’ in geography (see also Callard Citation1998; Longhurst Citation1995, Citation1997). Davis (Citation1997) described this interest as ‘body craze.’ Humanistic geographers are often credited for putting the body into geography as they explored phenomenological understandings of places. For example, Tuan wrote: ‘Body implicates space; space co-exists with the sentient body’ (Tuan 1974: 218 cited in Longhurst Citation2001: 15). With the rise of Marxist, feminist, and queer geography, geographers began to focus on, debate, and critique issues relating to the corporeal, especially during the 1990s. Marxist scholars explicate analysis of the body as an appendage of capital, as an accumulation strategy, and as a site of political-economic contestation (Harvey Citation1998; Callard Citation1998; for a discussion, see Orzeck Citation2007). Feminist, queer, and more recently disabled and youth geographies critique the unmarked or undifferentiated body of humanistic literature and of geography in general; analyses of the body are mobilized to critique the mind–body dualism and the implicitly male and masculinist discipline of geography (Duncan Citation1996; Rose Citation1993). This literature also examined the production of normative spaces (of heterosexuality, patriarchy, ability, etc.) and the power relations that structure them (e.g. Bell and Valentine Citation1995; Cresswell Citation1996; Hubbard Citation1999; Longhurst Citation2001; McDowell Citation1997; Pile Citation1996; Sothern Citation2007; Valentine Citation1993).
4 For example, wearing the headscarf is a common practice for orthodox Jews and Christian nuns as well as for women in public spaces across the Mediterranean.
5 In geographical work, clothing has similarly been analyzed in its disciplinary effects. For example, in McDowell's (Citation1995) analysis of work, dress and the body emerge as important for understanding the management of labor. Similarly, Longhurst (Citation2001) discusses the impact of the solemn, dark-colored suits of corporate managers on establishing and maintaining masculinist power hierarchies in the workplace.
6 The concept of ‘public space’ is at the heart of the headscarf debates in Turkey. Many critics of the ban criticize the secular state's disciplinary control over a variety of public spaces and even some private spaces, including those of private universities and schools. The supporters of the ban usually draw attention to the need for regulation in state spaces. Others argue for making a distinction between civil servants (who represent the state) and receivers of public service—for example, in having the ban apply to university professors but not to students. See Gökarıksel (Citation2007) and O'Neil (Citation2008).
7 All names of research participants are pseudonyms.
8 This ‘postmodern coup’ started a process that included the removal of the ‘Islamist’ Welfare Party from government and then its closing.
9 This non-governmental organization actively opposes the headscarf ban.