Women and Religion

"A timely book, with rich, empirical research giving voice and texture to women worldwide. This should be required reading for students and researchers seeking to understand women’s contemporary lived religion." Abby Day, Goldsmiths, University of London

Elisabetta Ruspini is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy). Since 2012 she has coordinated the Research Section "Studi di Genere" (Gender Studies), part of the AIS (Associazione Italiana di Sociologia-Italian Sociological Association). She is a board member of the ESA Research Network 33 "Women’s and Gender Studies" and has extensive teaching and research experience on gender issues. She has published a number of books and articles, and has contributed papers to many conferences.

Glenda Tibe Bonifacio is Associate Professor in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Lethbridge, Canada. She is the author of Pinay on the Prairies: Filipino Women and Transnational Identities, and has edited books on various topics related to gender and migration. Glenda is a research affiliate of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy.

Consuelo Corradi is Professor of Sociology and Vice-Chair for research and international relations at Lumsa University, Rome, Italy. She served as co-Chair of the Cost Action IS1206 on Femicide across Europe. She was Vice-President of the European Sociological Association from 2007 to 2009. Her research interests include violence against women, femicide, and the cross-national comparison of gender policy regimes across Europe. Her most recent book is "The concept and measurement of violence against women and men" (Policy Press, 2017), co-authored with S. Walby and others.

Editors’ Introduction ~ Elisabetta Ruspini, Glenda Tibe Bonifacio, Consuelo Corradi;

Part I: Women, Gender Equality and Religion between Past and Present;

Gender Equality in Different Readings of Islam in Post-Revolutionary Iran ~ Marziyeh Bakhshizadeh;

Religion and Gender Equality in the Philippines: Discourses and Practices in the 21st Century ~ Glenda Tibe Bonifacio;

A Slow March Forward: The Impact of Religious Change on Gender Ideology in the United States ~ Joshua D. Tuttle and Shannon N. Davis;

Divine Shadows: Indian Devadasis between Religious Beliefs and Sexual Exploitation ~ Manu Sharma;

Part II: Identities, Women’s Movements and Religion;

Formation of ‘Religious’ Identity among British Muslim Women ~ Masoumeh Velayati;

Christian Women’s Movements in Secularising and Diversifying Contexts: A Case Study from Belgium ~ Nella van den Brandt;

Muslim Women in Contemporary Argentina ~ Mari-Sol García Somoza and Mayra Soledad Valcarcel;

The Impact of Religious Unorthodoxy on Family Choices and Women’s Wellbeing in Turkey ~ F. Kemal Kizilca;

Part III: Contemporary Women’s Religious Experiences;

Between Me and My God. A Life Story Narrative of Conciliating Cultural Discourses and Personalization of Islam ~ Ladan Rahbari and Chia Longman;

We are all Goddesses: Female Sacred Paths in Italy ~ Roberta Pibiri and Stefania Palmisano;

Explorations of Spiritual Embodiment in Belly Dance ~ Angela M. Moe;

From Exclusion to Inclusion. Women and Interfaith Dialogue in the Mediterranean Area ~ Francesco Antonelli and Elisabetta Ruspini.