Fundamentalisms

What are fundamentalisms?

Fundamentalisms are political ideologies with religious framing and imperatives.    Fundamentalist movements impose a single version of a collection identity and try to convert, punish, or eradicate those who do not conform to this—women, sexual minorities, ethnic and religious minorities, atheists and secularists.  Their ideas about religion are often mixed in with ideas about ethnicity and nationalism

Fundamentalists tend to reject “modernity” and call for the return of a “golden age” in which their religion was supposedly pure and correctly practised. However, the reality is that fundamentalisms are actually modern movements, often with newly-created doctrines, that make use of the latest technologies.  And the “golden age” they refer to is always a modern construct, not a historical reality. 

Fundamentalists usually reject “the West” as the enemy of their culture and religion, and often use the language of anti-imperialism to express these points.  This is quite ironic too, because fundamentalist movements have often colluded with Western governments.

Fundamentalist movements are often found within the majority religion of a country, but they are also present in minority communities. Fundamentalist groups in minority communities in the West are sometimes transnationally connected to movements in other countries across the world.  Although these fundamentalists might be part of a religious or ethnic group that is marginalised by the majority society, they might simultaneously exercise power over those within their community, particularly women.

Worldwide, fundamentalisms have risen in popularity in recent years.  Part of the reason for this is a change in global economics; with a turn to neoliberal models, in some contexts religious movements have filled gaps that in service provision that used to be done by the state.  The rise of fundamentalisms is also related to militarism and insecurity.

How do they affect women?

Fundamentalisms severely restrict women’s rights and freedoms: the freedom to move independently and occupy public space, the right to be treated equally, to make decisions about one’s own life and body, and to live free from violence. 

Fundamentalist ideology places women in strict and supposedly “traditional” roles; as supportive and obedient wives, and as the mothers of the next generation of the movement.  However, internal contradictions sometimes exist; some fundamentalist groups encourage women’s political participation or militant action if it is in service of their aims.  Many women willingly participate in fundamentalist movements.  However, the “freedoms” given to women for participating are always on the terms of those in power (men), and so can easily be revoked.

Fundamentalists also tend to construct a strict divide between the sexes, and to punish anyone whose appearance, behaviour, or sexual orientation is perceived to threaten this boundary.  This means that fundamentalisms have a very negative effect on people with different sexual orientations or gender presentations (LGBT people).

Why plural?

We tend to refer to fundamentalisms (plural) to illustrate that there are lots of different kinds of fundamentalism. 

Fundamentalisms can be found in all regions of the world and within all religions. We focus on Muslim fundamentalisms because we are a network of women of Muslim heritage or living in Muslim contexts, not because Muslim fundamentalisms are the only or “worst” form of fundamentalism.

Some fundamentalist groups are ‘revivalist’ and some appear as traditional orthodoxy.  Some some are very organised and hierarchical, others have a looser structure.  Some are non-state groups or armed militias, some are opposition political parties, some exercise power through religious institutions, and some are represented in government.  

How does our network resist fundamentalisms?

Our networkers are involved in various activities that resist fundamentalisms.  Some have this as their explicit aim, while others are challenging fundamentalisms implicitly through their defence of women’s rights and freedoms.  Some of the activities of our networkers to resist fundamentalism include: challenging Hudud laws in Sudan and Pakistan, seeking justice for victims of fundamentalist violence Algeria, creating feminist interpretations of religious texts in Malaysia, fostering progressive values in Muslim communities in the USA, protesting against parallel legal systems and religious and communal law and calling for civil laws.

Through books, dossiers, pamphlets, articles and blogs we spread information about the ways fundamentalism threaten women, and ways in which women resist.  We have worked to fine-tune an analysis of fundamentalisms that shows their diversity, that highlights them as political projects, and which works to reveal the power relations underlying fundamentalisms and the contested nature of all religious norms and traditions.   In 2002 we held a conference on the topic “Warning Signs of Fundamentalisms”.  This led to the publication of a book in 2004 under the same name, which serves as a guide to recognising the danger signals that indicate a rise in fundamentalisms, and outlines strategies of resistance.