Women in the ‘Right’?: Women Organising in Religious Groups and Its Impact

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This research aims to explore how and why women organise in religious groups and its political implications. The research is a comparative study of women’s engagement with religious groups and mainstream political processes in five different countries, three where the women have mobilised around Islam and two where women have mobilised around Christianity.

The focus of this research will mainly be on women participating in religious groups, including groups that claim to be informal and apolitical (such as Quran reading classes, mosque or church based group) and also groups that have explicit political linkage (women’s wing of a religious political parties). The location will largely be urban based groups, particularly for Egypt, Bangladesh and Palestine.

This research will contribute towards a greater understanding in the following issues: women’s appeal towards religious groups or religious groups appeals to women; the connections between religious organising and women’s empowerment from women’s own perspective; is there any space for dialogue or any common ground with these groups and what can we learn from religion based organising?

The research to contribute to change through academic articles, working papers, country case reports, news paper articles, workshops and conferences.