Genealogies of Feminism: Leftist Feminist Subjectivity in the Wake of the Islamic Revival in Contemporary Morocco Nadia Guessous Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2011 ©2011 Nadia Guessous All rights reserved ABSTRACT Genealogies of Feminism: Leftist Feminist Subjectivity in the Wake of the Islamic Revival in Contemporary Morocco Nadia Guessous This dissertation is an ethnographic and genealogical study of leftist feminist subjectivity in the wake of the Islamic Revival in contemporary Morocco. It draws on two years (2004-2006) of field research amongst founding members of the Moroccan feminist movement whose activism emerged out of their immersion in and subsequent disenchantment with leftist and Marxist politics in the early 1980s. Based on ethnographic observations and detailed life histories, it explores how Moroccan feminists of this generation came to be constituted as particular kinds of modern leftist subjects who: 1) discursively construct “tradition” as a problem, even while positively invoking it and drawing on its internal resources; 2) posit themselves as “guardians of modernity” despite struggling with modernity’s constitutive contradictions; and 3) are unable to parochialize their own normative assumptions about progress, modernity, freedom, the body, and religion in their encounter with a new generation of women who wear the hijab. How and why a strong commitment to ideas associated with modernity, with women’s rights and with the left is seen as necessitating a condemnation and disavowal of “traditional” and of non-secular ways of being is one of the main themes animating this project. If I pay particular attention to the affective, visceral and embodied nature of these repudiations, it is to argue that modern political subjectivity operates not simply at the level of ideas but at a more complex register that is made manifest by the difficulties entailed in inter-subjective and inter-generational engagements. At the same time I draw inspiration from the work of feminist scholars and political theorists to argue for a more generous and unthreatened relationship to difference – one that is able to reconcile itself both with the past (tradition) and with the future (new generations). By analyzing the conundrums and aporias of contemporary Moroccan leftist feminist politics, this dissertation seeks to participate in thinking about modernity and feminism in non-teleological ways, and to contribute to an anthropology of modern power and of leftist/progressive political subjectivity. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ….…………………………………………….. iii DEDICATION …….………………………………………………….. ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION: TWO CONUNDRUMS, TWO CONVERSATIONS Two Conundrums …………………………………………………. 1 Two Conversations …………………………………………………. 17 The Heroism of Repudiation …………………………………………. 28 Genealogies of an Inter-Generational Exchange …………………. 45 Research, Methodology, Chapter Organization …………………. 62 TWO TRAGIC MODERN: THE “PROBLEM” OF TRADITION IN MOROCCAN LEFTIST FEMINIST THOUGHT Killing the Father? …………………………………………………. 69 Feminism and Tradition …………………………………………. 71 A Leftist Kinship …………………………………………………. 74 A Modernist Father …………………………………………………. 78 A Bridge Generation …………………………………………………. 86 Disenchantment and the Birth of a Movement …………………. 90 Enabling Fathers …………………………………………………. 99 Tradition Double Talk …………………………………………. 103 The Cunning of Modernity …………………………………………. 106 Agency and the Burden of the Enlightenment …………………. 112 Tragic Moderns …………………………………………………. 116 THREE AVERSIONS TOWARDS THE HIJAB “Thank God None of Them Are Veiled!” …………………………. 130 A Fear of Contagion …………………………………………………. 141 Defining Aversion …………………………………………………. 151 A Fear of Imposition …………………………………………………. 158 Parochializing Aversion …………………………………………. 167 Conclusion …………………………………………………………. 173 FOUR THE PARADOXES OF LEFTIST FEMINIST CONCEPTIONS OF THE HIJAB Introduction …………………………………………………………. 176 The Hijab as a Sign of Women’s Oppression …………………………. 178 The Hijab as Vanity, Cunning, and Masquerade …………………. 181 The Hijab as Mere Fashion …………………………………………. 183 The Missionary Hijab …………………………………………………. 195 Only Paradoxes to Offer …………………………………………. 200 i Conclusion …………………………………………………………. 207 FIVE GENEALOGIES OF AVERSION Introduction …………………………………………………………. 208 A Changed Sartorial Landscape …………………………………. 211 A New and Troubling Return of the Old …………………………. 225 A Historical and Increasing Animosity …………………………. 240 An Exhausted Left …………………………………………………. 247 Conclusion …………………………………………………………. 251 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………. 264 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The research for and writing of this dissertation would not have been possible without the sustained generosity and support of numerous individuals here, and especially in Morocco. I would like to begin by acknowledging the support of my committee members and teachers at Columbia. Lila Abu-Lughod’s contributions to my intellectual journey cannot be adequately described in words. Besides teaching me everything that I know about women and gender in the Middle East and inspiring me through her writings, I am forever grateful for her incredible generosity and friendship, and for welcoming me into her beautiful family. Her encouragement at every stage, her faith in the merits of my project at moments when my own doubts were overwhelming, her gentle but firm insistence that I be attentive to the details of the story and her thorough comments on every chapter were invaluable. Brinkley Messick’s enthusiasm for fieldwork and the stories he shared with me about his time in Morocco convinced me to join the anthropology department at Columbia. I am grateful for all that he has taught me over the years, especially about Islamic law and tradition, for the guidance that he provided me whenever I needed it, but most importantly, for encouraging me to seek my own answers and to find my own way. David Scott’s work on postcolonial criticism and on the critique of liberalism has both inspired and transformed my intellectual concerns. Being a student in his class in the spring of my first year of graduate school was a defining moment in my intellectual journey. By pulling the rug of intellectual certainty from under my feet, he radically transformed the ethos of my inquiries. His probing questions and queries iii over the years have kept me honest in my thinking and writing. I would also like to thank my two outside readers, Joan Wallach Scott and Saba Mahmood, for reading and commenting on my dissertation, and for pushing me to clarify my argument. Needless to say, my own work would not have been possible without their exemplary contributions to feminist theory and scholarship. My intellectual debt to Talal Asad is difficult to express in words, but will be obvious to those who read my work. His seminal contributions to the anthropology of religion and the secular and his exemplary teaching have been central to my intellectual formation and a constant inspiration. I thank him for teaching me how to ask uncomfortable questions, for reading and commenting on many early drafts of chapters, for his unfailing generosity, support and guidance throughout this project. At Columbia University, I have been fortunate to be part of an amazing community of friends who brought unique ethical and political sensibilities and commitments to their intellectual endeavors. In particular I wish to thank Shahla Talebi, Antina Von Schnitzler, Thushara Hewage, Nadia Loan, Suren Pillay, Ryan Chaney, Rajan Krishnan, Monikha, Nauman Naqvi, Poornima Paidipaty, Mireille Abelin, and Amira Mittermaier for their friendship and solidarity and for creating an intellectually stimulating environment in which to think and write. Mahmood Mamdani and Mira Nair have not only given intellectual support over the years, but their friendship, warmth and solidarity have been invaluable. In addition, I would like to express my deep gratitude to the staff of the anthropology department—Joyce Monges, Marilyn Astwood, Michael Chin, and Juana Cabrera—for their warmth and support over the years. iv Over the years many faculty and friends at Columbia and elsewhere have taken the time to discuss this project with me. I owe sincere thanks to Steven Gregory, Anupama Rao, Neni Panourgia, Stefania Pandolfo, Stuart Schaar, Abdellah Hammoudi, Deborah Kapchan, Kevin Dwyer, Kara Lynch, Nadya Sbaiti, Chris Dole, Amrita Basu, Joan Cocks, Margaret Cerullo, and Margaret Hunt for reading and/or commenting on drafts of various chapters, for taking the time to discuss my project and for their suggestions and support. Research and writing for this project was made possible with generous financial support from the anthropology department, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender and the Middle East Institute at Columbia University; the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad program, the American Institute for Maghreb Studies, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the Five College Consortium in Amherst, Massachusetts. Margaret Hunt and her colleagues at the Women and Gender Studies Program at Amherst College graciously provided me with an intellectual home while I was on a Five College Fellowship. The Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU provided me with an intellectually vibrant and stimulating community as I was putting the finishing touches to my dissertation. In particular, I wish to thank Michael Gilsenan, Greta Scharnweber, Zachary Lockman,