John Locke

1
John Lockes Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)

• Locke's primary goal is to "distinguish exactly
  the business of civil government from that of
  religion"
• government is instituted to promote external
  interests, relating to life, liberty, and the
  general welfare, while the church exists to
  promote internal interests, i.e., salvation
• the two serve separate functions, and so, must be
  considered to be separate institutions

2
In defense of religious diversity

• After a devastating period of religious wars,
  Locke proposes religious toleration as the
  answer
• In 1689, it was Catholicism that was seen as a
  threat to the English way of life
• Locke argues that civil unrest results from
  confrontations caused by govts attempt to
  prevent different religions from being practiced,
  rather than tolerating their proliferation

3
Locke on the politicization of religion

• I esteem that toleration to be the chief
  characteristic mark of the true Church. For
  whatsoever some people boast of the antiquity of
  places, names, or the pomp of their outward
  worship others, of the reformation of their
  discipline all, of the orthodoxy of their
  faithfor e/o is orthodox to himselfthese
  things, and all others of this nature, are much
  rather marks of men striving for power and empire
  over one another than of the Church of Christ.
• If like the Captain of our salvation, they
  sincerely desired the good of souls, they would
  tread in the steps and follow the perfect example
  of that Prince of Peace, who sent out His
  soldiersnot armed with the sword, or other
  instruments of force, but prepared with the
  Gospel of peace and with the exemplary holiness
  of their conversation. This was His method.
• politicization of religion the
  instrumentalization, or use, of religion and
  religious appeals in the political sphere, in
  struggles over political power
• Locke says the distinctive feature of methods
  used in the political sphere is their ultimate
  reliance on force or coercion, which make them
  inappropriate in the realm of religion, which is
  about internal interests and ones personal
  relationship to God

4
Oppression, not religion, causes unrest

• I know that seditions are very frequently
  raised upon pretence of religion, but it is as
  true that for religion subjects are frequently
  ill treated, and live miserably. Believe me, the
  stirs that are made proceed not from any peculiar
  temper of this or that church or religious
  society, but from the common disposition of all
  mankind, who when they groan under any heavy
  burthen endeavour naturally to shake off the yoke
  that galls their necks

5
"Obedience versus Autonomy Women and
Fundamentalism in Iran and Pakistan"

• Shahla Haeri, Ch. 45,
• pp. 370-378.

6
Secularism, Fundamentalism, Islamism

• secularism doctrine that government or other
  entities should exist separately from religion
  and/or religious beliefs
• secularization transformation of society from
  close identification with religious values and
  institutions toward non-religious values and
  secular institutions
• fundamentalism belief in a strict adherence to a
  set of basic principles (often religious in
  nature)
• It typically emerges in response to
  modernity/modernization and the various social
  processes associated with it, e.g.,
  secularization, urbanization, marketization and
  globalization
• Islamism a set of beliefs that hold that Islam
  is not only a religion but also a political
  system
• also referred to as "political Islam"

7
Women in context of the dialectical relationship
b/w secular reformers of 50s-60s Islamic
fundamentalism of 70s-80s in Iran/Pakistan

• In 50s 60s Muslim reformers adopted elements of
  Western law and applied them within Islamic
  framework
• Fundamentalists contested legitimacy of these
  reforms, claiming them to be inspired (or
  imposed) by the West rather than guided by
  Islamic law
• In 80s 90s, Islamic societies were affected by
  movements advocating return to Islamic ideals,
  particularly in family relations, marriage, and
  divorce
• Tension between secularist govt and
  fundamentalists has mirrored the alienation from
  and disillusionment w/ ideals and promises of
  "modernity" in many Muslim societies

8
Debates b/w fundamentalists and Iranian /
Pakistani urban middle class women center on the
concepts of obedience autonomy

• Both obedience autonomy relate to the
  reciprocal rights of spouses deriving from the
  contractual form marriage in Islam
• Whereas secularists try to break through and
  reinterpret the predetermined boundaries of the
  marriage contract, fundamentalists want to return
  to the literal meaning of the contract

9
Pakistan vs Iran

• Pakistan predominantly Sunni, within the South
  Asian cultural sphere, fundamentalists are only
  part of the ruling coalition and must compete for
  power with other parties and interest groups
• Iran predominantly a Shi'ite society, shares the
  cultural area of the Middle East, fundamentalists
  control the govt

10
Fundamentalism Consolidated the Case of Iran

• 1936 Unveiling Act and 1967 Family Protection Law
  granted women some autonomy and rights in the
  family
• Wearing veil in public became optional in 1941

11
1970s brought upheaval, restlessness, sense of
moral chaos

• The 1970s economic boom (as price of oil
  increased) brought more destruction than
  development, widening the gap between haves and
  have-nots
• sense of moral chaos, esp in urban areas
• "An overwhelming majority of Iranians took a
  collective plunge into an idealized past, hoping
  to retrieve what they could agree on, namely, an
  Islamic identity" (p. 375)

12
Women in Irans Islamic Revolution

• Women donned the veil in anti-Shah protests in
  1978-79, many for non-religious reasons
• for symbolic reasons, as protest against its
  forced removal in 30s
• for pragmatic reasons, fearing recognition by the
  Shah's secret police
• Unintended consequence of women's success as
  revolutionaries heightened awareness and
  increased expectations of small but vocal
  segments of the urban female population
• ? tension between fundamentalist regime women
  who brought it to power

13
Veiling

• Veiling in the Islamic world is not monolithic
  and uniform, even within individual Islamic
  societies
• Veiling is a multifaceted and polysemic
  institution, with a multiplicity of forms and
  meanings, both domestically and internationally
• polysemic having a number of meanings,
  interpretations

14
Despite the Islamic regime's attempt at
uniformity, many Iranian women assert their
"individuality" by improvising on theme of
Islamic veiling

• Some have reverted to the traditional long black
  veil (chador) so that they can dress any way they
  like underneath
• Others use colorful scarves interwoven with gold
  and silver threads
• Some wrap scarves differently
• Others show strands of highlighted hair
• ? Issue in Iran is no longer to veil or not to
  veil, but how to veil, to "veil well" or "veil
  bad
• "Although the veil itself is not subject to
  negotiation, what emerges from this continuous
  and subtle subversion of authority is a public
  and highly politicized debate about the
  particular way the veil is worn, the specific
  colors chosen, or the arena within which women
  can appear and work" (p. 378)