By Gunther Dietz and Nadia El-Shohoumi
Published 2005, 169 pages, paperback

Gunther Dietz and Nadia El-Shohoumi delve into the worlds of Muslim women in southern Spain, examining their religious beliefs and practices, family and community life, professional training and labor market integration, and the dimensions and sources of the discrimination they face daily.

The authors find that the Muslim women typically are viewed as “stepdaughters” by the society in which they reside—and often by their communities of origin, as well. They also critically assess the potential within the host society for successfully counteracting both the gender-based and the ethno-religious discrimination to which the women are subject.

Reviews

“This book goes a long way in challenging … simplistic depictions through analyzing the diversity within the Muslim community, and amongst Muslim women’s life-worlds…. The issues discussed are not restricted to the Spanish context, and so provide fodder for discussion on the status of immigrant Muslim women throughout the Western world.”—Helen Vallianatos, The Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology

“This richly nuanced study of the forms and sources of discrimination [will] inform the debate about Islam across Europe and beyond.”—Antonio Isquierdo, Universidad da Coruña, Spain

About the Authors

Gunther Dietz is in the anthropology faculty at the University of Granada. Nadia El-Shohoumi is research fellow at the University of Granada’s Laboratorio de Estudios Interculturales.

Contents

Migration and Islam in Spain.

Settings and Actors.

Islam Between Discourse and Practice.

A Gendered Life Cycle.

Niches and Segments of Labor Market Integration.

Institutionalized Islamophobia?

Between Gender, Religion, and Ethnicity.

Societal Responses and Perspectives.