Abstract
This paper focuses on Women’s empowerment within the context of identity mobilization in Africa using as case study the leading Muslim women’s association in Nigeria, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN). It argues that Muslim women have been able to create an opening for themselves within the structure of Islam in Nigeria in recent times through the use of the discourse of Islamic reform but that such discourse of reform displays contradictions which opens it to being used as a source of legitimacy by more extreme fundamentalist actors with negative impact on the goal of women’s empowerment. Key words: Islamic, identity, Nigeria, women, Muslim.
Highlights
Omobolaji Ololade OlarinmoyeDepartment of Government, Hamilton College, NY, USA. This paper focuses on Women’s empowerment within the context of identity mobilization in Africa using as case study the leading Muslim women’s association in Nigeria, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN). It argues that Muslim women have been able to create an opening for themselves within the structure of Islam in Nigeria in recent times through the use of the discourse of Islamic reform but that such discourse of reform displays contradictions which opens it to being used as a source of legitimacy by more extreme fundamentalist actors with negative impact on the goal of women’s empowerment. Key words: Islamic, identity, Nigeria, women, Muslim
A key feature of women‟s lives in the Global South is the quest for empowerment, a departure from the present disadvantages that characterize their everyday lives
On a scale of indices of empowerment developed by the World Economic Forum, African women have some of the lowest scores (Lopez-Claros and Zahidi, 2005:9)
Summary
Department of Government, Hamilton College, NY, USA. This paper focuses on Women’s empowerment within the context of identity mobilization in Africa using as case study the leading Muslim women’s association in Nigeria, Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN). It argues that Muslim women have been able to create an opening for themselves within the structure of Islam in Nigeria in recent times through the use of the discourse of Islamic reform but that such discourse of reform displays contradictions which opens it to being used as a source of legitimacy by more extreme fundamentalist actors with negative impact on the goal of women’s empowerment. Key words: Islamic, identity, Nigeria, women, Muslim.
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