In the decades leading up to the Arab Spring in 2011, when Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime was swept from power in Egypt, Muslim women took a leading role in developing a robust Islamist presence in the country's public sphere. Soft Force examines the writings and activism of these women--including scholars, preachers, journalists, critics, ac
"McLarney brings to our attention the thinking and life practices of women across the decades in Egypt who have used an Islamic discourse of their own making to strive for personal perfection and for a better social order. Appearing after the Egyptian uprisings and during a time when for many 'the revolution' continues, this book stands to provoke multiple readings and lively debate."--Margot Badran, author of Feminism in Islam: Secular and Religious Convergences
"This is an eloquent and carefully argued book. Clear, engaging, and sophisticated, Soft Force is crucial for a more complete understanding of the origins of contemporary and ongoing debates about women, Islam, and public life in Egypt."--Lara Deeb, coauthor of Leisurely Islam: Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi'ite South Beirut
"McLarney challenges the conventional wisdom that assumes the docility and oppression of Muslim women in the processes of Islamic revival, demonstrating instead their roles as active shapers of public discourse. Soft Force is a brilliant and highly engaging book."--Omnia El Shakry, author of The Great Social Laboratory: Subjects of Knowledge in Colonial and Postcolonial Egypt
"Ellen Anne McLarney's
Soft Force: Women in Egypt's Islamic Awakening is an ambitious study that seeks to incorporate women as key contributors to the story of religious change in Egypt. McLarney's approach is both unconventional and necessary. . . . By bringing Muslim women across the ideological spectrum together as part of an extended conversation of gender, ethics, and politics, [
Soft Force] challenges historians and anthropologists to appreciate the ways in which women continue to shape the relationship between religion, politics, and society in Egypt."
---Aaron Rock-Singer, Bustan
