Women Leading Change in the Muslim World

Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D., Director of International Human Rights Policy Programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women, leads a unique project that brings together women leaders from countries governed by Muslim Law. The Women's Leadership Network: Women's Political, Public, & Economic Participation in the Muslim World project was founded last year with the belief that transnational information sharing networks can help strengthen partnerships between and across disciplines, regions, communities, and national boundaries. This collaboration would then reinforce a more dynamic understanding of women’s leadership in the world. The women leaders in this Network are at the forefront of reform across the Muslim world and are mining the egalitarian core of Islamic jurisprudence. In this presentation, Dr. de Silva-de Alwis will talk more about the work of this network, including a recently published collection of essays written by Network steering committee members. These papers both join and respond to the call for Islamic feminism as part of a modernist movement bent on contextualizing Islam. November 18th, 2010