Muslim Women In Southern Spain: Stepdaughters Of Al-Andalus

by Gunther Dietz

In order to explore the contested life-worlds created by Westernizing gender roles, religious pluralism, and cultural hybridization, Dietz (anthropology) and El-Shohoumi (intercultural studies, both U. of Granada, Spain) undertake an ethnographic study of the life-worlds, biographical narratives, and organizational accounts of Muslim women in southern Spain. They present their findings under such headings as migration and Islam in Spain, niches and segments of labor market integration, and societal responses and perspectives. They have not indexed their study. Published by the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at the U. of California, San Diego; distributed in the US by Lynne Rienner Publishers. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

169 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

The topic for tonight's book group meeting is "Muslim Women." I tried to find a good source of information about Muslim women in Moorish Spain, 711AD-1492AD. That doesn't seem to be a hot topic in contemporary literature. I found a few things that suggested a woman's life was great if she was the caliph's favorite wife, but otherwise it wasn't so hot. In my search, I came across this book that recounts an ethnographic study of Muslim womens' lives in Granada, Andalucia. One theme is a distinction between arab culture and islam religion. Another is how the remnants of the Catholic Fascist state continue to affect today's Spanish institutions. Finally the point is made that despite Western pretensions of honoring cultural diversity, we easily slip back into seeing "them" as different than us and all the same as each other.