Shared Insights on Religious Fundamentalisms

JUAN MARCO VAGGIONE

Ciudad del Cabo - Sudáfrica

Congreso; AWID International Forum; 2008

Association of Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

this publication addresses how useful the term “religious fundamentalisms” is for contemporary activism on women’s rights. In spite of its wide usage by activists, academics, politicians, journalists and others, it is also a very controversial term. To label certain institutions or groups of individuals “fundamentalist” suggests that they share some common elements. However, is there clarity or agreement on what these shared characteristics of fundamentalism are? Adding to the complexity is the fact that the use of the word fundamentalist has taken on a new political dimension – often one with racist or xenophobic undertones – in the narratives relating to war, terrorism, security and identity after the attacks in the United States of America on September 11th, 2001. Considering these factors, we will examine if the term is still a useful and strategic way for women’s rights activists to define the phenomenon and thereby collaborate in terms of effective and collective strategies. The final part of this publication considers the main types of fundamentalist actors as identified by women’s rights activists. The opinions and experiences of women’s rights activists are important for identifying not only the most obvious religious fundamentalist actors, but also those who are the most implicated when the issue at stake is women’s rights. In the experiences of women’s rights activists, almost all religious traditions have fundamentalist elements. They also identify a complex picture of actors who transverse local and global, religious and secular spaces, and operate within elite circles as well as through followers of this ideology.