Eman Abdelhadi - Impossible Futures: Why Women Leave American Muslim Communities while Men Stay

Impossible Futures: Why Women Leave American Muslim Communities while Men Stay - Eman Abdelhadi, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago

Abstract: "Impossible Futures" explains why Muslim communities are losing women and retaining men. Using a large sample of life history interviews with Muslim adults who grew up in the U.S., Professor Abdelhadi argues that the community places its anxieties about cultural assimilation onto women’s shoulders, creating unintended pressures that drive them out. Professor Abdelhadi avoids the trap of either orientalizing Muslim cultures by assuming that gender inequality is inherent in Islam or overcorrecting by ignoring signs of gender inequality among Muslims. Instead, Professor Abdelhadi argues that gender inequality emerges from the structural and cultural tensions between migrant generations.
Wednesday, 18 Jan, 5:00pm
Michigan State University Muslim Studies Program
co-sponsors: MSU Dept of Political Science and the Center for Gender in Global Context