AWID RF Activists Manual Private
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brutal force rigid coercive abusive violence FOR ACTIVISTS control UNDERSTANDING otherness patriarchy hierarchical anti-abortion RELIGIOUS heteronormative discrimination stifle authoritarian harm intolerance fear moral superiority anti-contraception anti-human rights power unjust anti- LGBTQI rights severe divisive rape FUNDAMENTALISMS narrow harsh racist hatred anti-choice regressive persecution anti-women marginalization absolutist moral superiority social control dehumanizing ii understanding religious fundamentalisms for activists UNDERSTANDING RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISMS FOR ACTIVISTS author: Saira Zuberi editor: Shareen Gokal proofreading: Laila Malik, May Abu Jaber and Rochelle Jones production: Lina Gomez design: Sherna Dastur The Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) is an international feminist, membership organization committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights. AWID’s mission is to strengthen the voice, impact, and influence of women’s rights advocates, organizations, and movements internationally to effectively advance the rights of women. AWID gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Cordaid, Ford Foundation, Foundation for a Just Society, Hivos, Levi Strauss Foundation, Oak Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), Wallace Global Fund and two anonymous contributors. 2013 Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) This publication may be redistributed non-commercially in any media, unchanged and in whole, with credit given to AWID and the authors. www.creativecommons.org Published by Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) in Toronto, Mexico City, Cape Town Address: 215 Spadina Ave, Suite 150, Toronto, Ontario M5T 2C7 Canada Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 416.594.3773 Fax: +1 416.594.0330 UNDERSTANDING RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISMS FOR ACTIVISTS OTHER AWID PUBLICATIONS Religion, Culture and Tradition: Strengthening Efforts to Eradicate Violence against Women (2013); Not as Simple as ABC: Christian Fundamentalisms and HIV and AIDS Responses in Africa (2012); Feminists on the Frontline: Case Studies of Resisting and Challenging Fundamentalisms (2010); Shared Insights: Women’s Rights Activists Define Religious Fundamentalisms (2008); Religious Fundamentalisms on the Rise: A Case for Action (2008); and Exposed!: Ten Myths about Religious Fundamentalisms (2008). *Note that throughout this publication all data drawn from AWID’s other publications are not cited. Only in cases where information is drawn from sources not authored by AWID or in partnership with AWID are citations included. For any feedback, suggestions or questions relating to this publication, please contact [email protected]. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND RESEARCH SOURCES This resource manual is an initiative of AWID, the Association for Women’s Rights in Development. It is primarily based on the AWID publication, Towards a Future without Fundamentalisms: Analyzing Religious Fundamentalist Strategies and Feminist Responses by Cassandra Balchin, as well as other AWID publications on religious fundamentalisms and women’s rights (see box on the previous page). All of AWID’s research in this publication is based on the insights and experiences of hundreds of women’s rights activists and allies who participated in a detailed global survey conducted by AWID (drawing more than 1,600 responses in Arabic, English, French and Spanish and covering more than 100 countries); over 80 in-depth interviews with individual activists from 2007-2012; 19 case studies on feminist strategies to counter religious fundamentalisms; and numerous in-person consultations both at AWID convenings and in spaces where AWID presented aspects of the research. Parts of this manual also draw on material from Los Fundamentalismos en Movimiento, a manual produced by Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (CDD, Catholics for the Right to Decide) México in collaboration with CDD Argentina, authored by José Manuel Morán Faúndes and María Angélica Peñas Defago and edited by Juan Marco Vaggione, also based on the AWID publication cited above and adapted in Spanish for use in Latin America. We would like to thank the following for their invaluable contributions: María Consuelo Mejía, Aidé García, Maribel Luna (CDD Mexico), and the 16 participants from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua who participated in the pilot workshop of Los Fundamentalismos en Movimiento that took place in Antigua, Guatemala in October 2012. Additionally, we would like to thank the following for their substantive inputs: Edna Aquino, Caroline Brac de la Perrière, Farzaneh Davari, María Consuelo Mejía, José Manuel Morán Faúndes, María Angélica Peñas Defago and Sussan Tahmasebi. Finally, we would like to thank the following AWID colleagues for their support in the development of this publication: Hakima Abbas, Lydia Alpízar Durán, Cindy Clark and Sandra Dughman Manzur. Thanks also to Srilatha Batliwala for her inputs on Chapter 5 of this manual. Without their contributions, feedback and support, this manual would not have been possible. Shareen Gokal Manager, Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) This resource manual is dedicated to Cassandra Balchin (1962-2012), who served as Senior Research Consultant for AWID’s Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms program. Her contributions extend to many of the publications and analysis produced by the CF initiative. Cassandra leaves two sons, many family members, and a vast global network of friends, colleagues and activists who miss her sharp insight and tireless commitment, as well as her boundless energy and warmth. preface Getting Started 6 chapter 1 What are Religious Fundamentalisms? 8 chapter 2 What Factors Help Religious Fundamentalisms Grow? 30 chapter 3 Religious Fundamentalist Strategies, Tactics and Messaging 44 chapter 4 Strategies to Counter Religious Fundamentalisms 76 chapter 5 Suggested Activities for Workshop Groups 99 PREFACE GETTING STARTED Who is this manual for? This manual is designed for activists, networks and organizations confronting religious fundamentalist opposition to their rights-based work. Your work may focus on women’s rights, LGBTQI rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, equality in family laws or citizenship rights, violence against women, land rights, sex workers’ rights or other fields of activism, or may include practitioners in the fields of international development or humanitarian aid, among other areas of specialization. Addressing the growth of religious fundamentalisms at regional and global levels requires a deeper understanding of religious fundamentalisms: what they are, what impacts they have, and how fundamentalist movements work and grow. This deeper understanding can help strengthen feminist and other rights-based activism to confront and challenge fundamentalist attacks on human rights. AWID has prepared this manual based on the experiences and analysis of hundreds of women’s rights activists in diverse regions of the world, with the aim of offering an accessible resource to inform and support advocacy, strategies and dialogue on the issue of religious fundamentalisms. The manual is divided into four chapters that build on each other, but these can also be used separately if appropriate. chapter 1 describes the main shared characteristics of religious fundamentalisms as defined by women’s rights activists, and provides a brief historical perspective, as well as reflections and challenges regarding the term. chapter 2 provides an outline of some of the main sociocultural, economic and political factors that may enable the rise of religious fundamentalisms. chapter 3 focuses on some key religious fundamentalist strategies, including their arguments and messaging. chapter 4 identifies some of the strategies that feminist and other rights-based activists and movements are using to resist religious fundamentalisms. chapter 5 suggests a series of group activities for use in workshops, and ends with a selection of web links and video resources relating to religious fundamentalisms and rights-base efforts to challenge them. This manual is intended to be a living document that is adapted and updated. Religious fundamentalisms are a complex and evolving phenomenon. This means that there are always new and diverse issues arising with respect to religious fundamentalisms and rights. There are also many ways in which fundamentalisms work, grow and adapt; these are also the subject of much debate and discussion and cannot be covered completely within this brief manual. Moreover, while AWID’s research shows that religious fundamentalisms have many characteristics and aims in common, the ways that fundamentalist movements work and grow and the ways they are being challenged by rights- based movements also have specifically local characteristics. Throughout this manual, you will find diverse examples of fundamentalist and rights- based strategies, and you will probably think of many more examples from your own experiences and observations as you read through the publication. The hope is that this manual will serve as a useful resource for you to engage in this important issue and further your understandings and strategies. WHAT ARE CHAPTER 1 RELIGIOUS FUNDAMENTALISMS? A Brief History: Where does the term “religious fundamentalism” come from? The term “fundamentalism” has its origins in the early 20th century in the United States, after the publication