Jihadi brides at the intersections of contemporary feminism

Abstract

Contemporary feminism has reached a difficult crossroads, both in its theory and practical application. Feminist commitment to diversity and inclusion has opened space for women not traditionally considered in feminism’s domain and prompted new understandings of the forms of power against which women struggle. However, the very inclusivity of contemporary feminism now raises a series of unresolved issues. What does it mean to be a feminist today? What are the criteria for integration within a feminist agenda? And who determines the boundaries of inclusion and exclusion? This article uses the case of Jihadi brides, women who travel to join the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, to test the limits of feminist boundaries. That these women have embarked on a radical political campaign against the West prompts further revisioning of the relationship between women, gender, and feminism. In place of a unified feminist politics, women are involved today on both sides of the global conflict between Western industrialized democracy (and its allies) and violent jihadism. In this context, should feminism include all women, even those who fight against Western values and thus the rights of other women? Should feminism tolerate the intolerant? Against the background of debates about intersectionality, identity politics, and post-structuralism, this article raises the specter of a feminism that is not only non-Western but, importantly, anti-Western and considers its implications for a feminist reconstructive agenda.