Gender Race And Religion

Gender, Race and Religion brings together a selection of original papers published in Ethnic and Racial Studies that address the intersections between gender relations, race and religion in our contemporary environment. Chapters address both theoretical and empirical aspects of this phenomenon, and although written from the perspective of quite different national, social and political situations, they are linked by a common concern to analyze the interface between gender and other situated social relationships, from both a conceptual and a policy angle. These are issues that have been the subject of intense scholarly research and analysis in recent years, as well as forming part of public debates about the significance of gender, race and religion as sites of identity formation and mobilization in our changing global environment. The substantive chapters bring together insights from both theoretical reflection and empirical research in order to investigate particular facets of these questions. Gender, Race and Religion addresses issues that are at the heart of contemporary scholarly debates in the field of race and ethnic studies, and engages with important questions in policy and public debates. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

The essays in this collection provide a coherent perspective on the comparative history of European colonialism in the Americas through their treatment of four central themes: the gendered implications of life on colonial frontiers; non-European women's relationships to Christian institutions; the implications of race-mixing; and social networks established by women of various ethnicities in the colonial context. Geographic regions covered include the Caribbean, Brazil, English America, and New France.

The ESWTR conference in Leuven in 2019 dealt with the intersection of gender, race, and religion and asked for the de-/construction of regimes of visibility and invisibility. By discussing these three concepts in relationship to each other, underlying patterns of privilege and oppression in a society can be uncovered. The concepts "gender, race, and religion" are not static ideas, but processes in society. They are constructed in social interaction, through discourses and practices--what implies that their meaning can also be deconstructed. The construction is the result of power processes. These create what is considered an appropriate way to express one's religion, what should be visible and what not, although very often the processes of "religionization" and "racialization" remain hidden, sometimes concealed by so-called good intentions. What is made visible and invisible is the result of choices that serve particular interests. In malestream theology this is a blind spot. However, there are many theological themes at stake here. The question is how theologians can help to make the underlying patterns and processes of "genderisation," and "religionization" (more) visible in order to contribute to the flourishing of everyone and to more justice in society. This is what the contributions of this volume try to do, in their analysis of the intersection of gender and religion (and race) in different contexts.

This book explores how beliefs and practices have shaped the interactions between different ethnic groups in Western Hunan, as well as considering how religious life has adapted to the challenges of modern Chinese history. Combining historical and ethnographic methodologies, chapters in this book are structured around changes that occurred during the interaction between Miao ritual traditions and religions such as Daoism, with particular focus on the commonalities and differences seen between Western Hunan and other areas of Southwest China. In addition, investigation is made into how gender and ethnicity have shaped such processes, and what these phenomena can teach about larger questions of modern Chinese history. As such, this study transcends existing scholarship on Western Hunan - which has stressed the impact of state policies and elite agendas - by focusing instead on the roles played by ritual specialists. Such findings call into question conventional wisdom about the 'standardization' of Chinese culture, as well as the integration of local society into the state by means of written texts. Religion, Ethnicity, and Gender in Western Hunan during the Modern Era will prove valuable to students and scholars of history, ethnography, anthropology, ethnic studies, and Asian studies more broadly.

Racial and religious groups have played a key role in shaping the American West, yet scholars have for the most part ignored how race and religion have influenced regional identity. In this collection, eleven contributors explore the intersections of race, religion, and region to show how they transformed the West. From the Punjabi Mexican Americans of California to the European American shamans of Arizona to the Mexican Chinese of the borderlands, historical meanings of race in the American West are complex and are further complicated by religious identities. This book moves beyond familiar stereotypes to achieve a more nuanced understanding of race while also showing how ethnicity formed in conjunction with religious and regional identity. The chapters demonstrate how religion shaped cultural encounters, contributed to the construction of racial identities, and served as a motivating factor in the lives of historical actors. The opening chapters document how religion fostered community in Los Angeles in the first half of the twentieth century. The second section examines how physical encounters—such as those involving Chinese immigrants, Hermanos Penitentes, and Pueblo dancers—shaped religious and racial encounters in the West. The final essays investigate racial and religious identity among the Latter-day Saints and southern California Muslims. As these contributions clearly show, race, religion, and region are as critical as gender, sexuality, and class in understanding the melting pot that is the West. By depicting the West as a unique site for understanding race and religion, they open a new window on how we view all of America.

This volume studies females who practice or interact with gender norms of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in relation to the geography of place. The book focuses on attempts by religious and secular authorities to control women’s access to distinct spaces to show how religious women navigate harsh terrain and attain mobility within established institutions. The writings are grouped under three sections: “Women and Colonial Regimes,” “Religion and Women’s Mobility,” and “New Spaces for Religious Women.” Secular, critical, and comparative viewpoints are explored, with much of the scholarship steeped in fieldwork, i.e., an orthodox district in Jerusalem, a shopping mall in Istanbul, women travelers in Pakistan, and Korean immigrant women in Los Angeles. Contributors broaden notions of space to extend beyond architecture, national borders, external and internal boundaries, and assorted identifying markers, such as race or clothing. In examining a “new” aspect of space/geography these essays promote challenge, irony, and unexpected avenues of thought. Multi-cultural and international in scope, this work makes a significant, groundbreaking contribution to the field of geography.

How activists in Ghana, South Africa, and Brazil provide inspiration and strategies for combating the gender violence epidemic in the United States How can the U.S. learn from the perspectives of anti-gender violence activists in South America and Africa as we seek to end intimate violence in this country? The U.S. has consistently positioned itself as a moral exemplar, seeking to export its philosophy and values to other societies. Yet in this book, Traci C. West argues that the U.S. has much to learn from other countries when it comes to addressing gender-based violence. West traveled to Ghana, South Africa, and Brazil to interview activists involved in the struggle against gender violence. In each of these places, as in the United States, Christianity and anti-black racism have been implicated in violence against women. In Ghana and Brazil, in particular, their Christian colonial and trans-Atlantic slave trade histories directly connect with the socioeconomic development of the Americas and historic incidents of rape of black slave women. With a transnational focus on religion and racism, West brings a new perspective to efforts to systemically combat gender violence. Calling attention to forms of violence in the U.S. and international settings, such as marital rape, sex trafficking of women and girls, domestic violence, and the targeting of lesbians, the book offers an expansive and nuanced view of how to form activist solidarity in tackling this violence. It features bold and inspiring approaches by black women leaders working in each setting to uproot the myriad forms of violence against women and girls. Ultimately, West calls for us to learn from the lessons of Africana activists, drawing on a defiant Africana spirituality as an invaluable resource in the quest to combat the seemingly chronic problem of gender-based violence.