Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Fatima Sadiqi's Moroccan Feminist Discourses - a Valuable Contribution

After 8 years of work renowned author Fatima Sadiqi has released her latest book: Moroccan Feminist Discourses. It proves to be a welcome and valuable contribution to feminist studies



"Sadiqi seamlessly weaves the personal, historical, and political to produce a rich and eminently readable narrative."

While the title has the ring of academia, Moroccan Feminist Discourses is both scholarly and personal. It is scholarly because it addresses and assesses the current Moroccan feminist discourses, a topic Fatima Sadiqi has been involved with for almost three decades, and it is personal because it brings along her Berber identity and seeks to reposition it vis-à-vis these feminist discourses.

Revisiting the Moroccan feminist Discourses in the aftermath of the uprisings in the region which, among other things, brought about the spectacular change in the political status of Amazigh (Berber) from an indigenous centuries-long marginalized language to an 'official language' of Morocco came with serious challenges to the feminist discourses by highlighting the stark absence of Amazigh, a women-related language, in these discourses.

The two recognized types of feminist discourse, the secular and Islamic ones, are not only divergent but suffer from a shortage in scope and discard the rich heritage, knowledge, and art that Berber women bring along to the Moroccan feminist discourses.

What the reviewers say:
"A valuable book, exploring and opening up a new and important terrain." - Leila Ahmed, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity, Harvard University, USA
"It is no accident that one of the foremost advocates of the Berber language is also a central voice in feminist scholarship in Morocco. Sadiqi weaves together the parallel stories of the Berber legacy and the rising tide of women's rights, demonstrating how both interacted with Islam to become enshrined in the new constitution during the 'Moroccan Spring' of 2011. In her inimitable voice, she adds her personal journey, reminding us that feminism remains an unfinished story." - Ann Braude, Director of the Women's Studies in Religion Program, Harvard University, USA
"As Morocco extends and deepens its democratization process and the world becomes more attentive to developments there and elsewhere in North Africa, Sadiqi's brilliant analysis of the Berber dimension of the women's rights movement and socio-political change will be a central resource for years to come. Sadiqi seamlessly weaves the personal, historical, and political to produce a rich and eminently readable narrative." - Valentine M. Moghadam, Professor of Sociology and International Affairs, Northeastern University, USA
Fatima Sadiqi

Author Fatima Sadiqi is Professor of Linguistics and Gender Studies and Founder of the Center for Studies and Research on Women at Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University, Morocco. She is the author of Women, Gender, and Language in Morocco and the editor of Women and Knowledge in the Mediterranean, Women in the Middle East and North Africa: Agents of Change, and Women Writing Africa.


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