Secularity, Gender, and Emancipation: Thinking through Feminist Activism and Feminist Approaches to the Secular

Abstract

In this article, I engage with feminist discussions about secularity, gender and emancipation. The feminist study of the secular was spurred by interventions of Saba Mahmood (2005), and can be seen as a critical engagement with at least one basic assumption that underlies much of progressive thinking – that secularism is beneficial for women and LGBTQ subjects. I begin by exploring how the Belgian feminist activist platform Baas Over Eigen Hoofd! (Boss Over One’s Own Head!) builds a locally suited theory and practice of emancipation. I analyse how BOEH! raises questions about gender and secularity. Second, I zoom-out by mapping feminist studies of the secular in Western European contexts, distinguishing various analytical approaches and visions on socialpolitical secular emancipatory alternatives. To conclude, I relate local feminist activism to feminist academic discussions, and argue that there is a continued need for thinking about shared emancipatory futures.