Rethinking Muslim Women’s Agency in Orientalist, Nationalist and Identity Discourses Beyond Abu-Lughod

Abstract

This article engages with Lila Abu-Lughod’s fundamental 2002 review ‘Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others’, which criticises Western narratives of Muslim women’s passivity and victimhood. Orientalist and post-structuralist gender theories are brought together in a discussion of the complexity of Muslim women’s position in global and national politics and the intricate role of rituals in identity and agency. This article aims to critically assess Abu-Lughod’s work in the context of the Middle East, asking key questions: (1) To what extent is the identity of Muslim women created by Orientalist narratives? (2) How do religious rituals interact with notions of gender and agency? While supporting Abu-Lughod’s criticisms of Orientalist tropes, this article also argues that her analysis is insufficient in addressing the role of Middle Eastern nationalist discourses in shaping gendered identities. This article further critiques Abu-Lughod’s limitations in viewing veiling as a matter of choice or oppression, instead theorising agency as relational and performative, embedded within power structures and identity formation. The article ultimately calls for a more nuanced understanding of Muslim women’s agency beyond binary framings.