Is religion a problem for intersectional theory? Muslim women, feminism, and varieties of patriarchy

Dados Bibliográficos

ID19224714
AutoresKarolin I M Tuncel (Science Oxford, autor correspondente), Tobias Müller (0000-0002-1999-4370, University of Cambridge)
Ano2026
Volume25
Fascículo1
Data de publicação2026-06-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoContemporary Political Theory (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1470-8914 • E-ISSN: 1476-9336
EditoraPalgrave Macmillan (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1057/s41296-026-00817-9
OpenAlexW7164866583
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas83

Intersectional theory has been criticised for neglecting religion and for being unable to account for religion’s social complexities. This contribution interrogates this critique by disaggregating different relationships of Muslim women to secular and religious varieties of patriarchy. We argue that what demarcates the challenges of intersectional analysis are the political contestations not around religion, but around women’s pro-patriarchal agency. We do so by discussing intersectional theory’s analytical usefulness and limitations in conceptualising the experiences of Muslim women. We focus on two interrelated dimensions: Muslim women in relation to secular patriarchy, and Muslim women in relation to religious patriarchy. We show that when analysed separately, the first dimension, the subjectivities of Muslim women in secular patriarchal spaces, do not pose a challenge to intersectional theory. We argue that intersectional theory’s limitations regarding the second dimension, Muslim women in relation to religious patriarchy, do not lie in its relation to Islam, but in its programmatic focus on problematising power inequalities. Lastly, in situating Muslim women at the intersection of these two dimensions, we demonstrate how intersectional analysis can reveal not only Muslim women’s marginalisation, but also the analytical marginalisations of Muslim feminisms

Feminism · Focus (optics) · Intersection (aeronautics) · Intersectionality · Patriarchy · Politics · Power (physics) · Relation (database) · Feminism, Gender, and Intersectionality · Gender Politics and Representation · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy