SELF-MAKING IN EXILE: MORAL EMPLACEMENT BY SYRIAN REFUGEE WOMEN IN JORDAN

This article brings an anthropology of ethics to bear on a case of forced migration and displacement among Syrian refugee women in Jordan. The case reveals how projects of Islamic self-making in displacement become “emplacement” processes within the new state-mediated context. Syrian women in Jordan engage in Islamic self-making as part of their wider emplacement practices in two primary ways: first, operating more publicly in the material world through Islamically-inspired actions and rituals than in Syria. Second, utilizing narratives of Islamic histories to establish dignity in conditions of precarity in exile. Using two focus groups in urban Jordan and participant observation in two religion classes in a Syrian refugee camp, this article focuses on these practices of Islamic self-making that serve an important role in the projects of moral emplacement for Syrian women in the Jordanian context.     

A Woman'S Voice As Her Life Changes

Our innate capacity for voice is with us from the beginnings of life. The concept of voice is a complex issue rooted in the core of the self. Once we become aware of ourselves, we realize our capacity for self-expression. Self-expression is part of the cooperative network of communication between the self and others as we share emotions, thoughts, and ideas. Voice facilitates a connection between the world of one individual and the world of another. The purpose of this article was to explore and discover the processes, influences, attitudes and beliefs that affect a woman's ability to define her menopausal voice. A woman's voice expresses her knowledge, set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices in the form of language. Voice becomes a manifestation of the essence of self, and when listened to, breaks the silence of non-existence. A menopausal woman's voice is the voice that expresses the entirety of her existence at that particular stage in life. Post-menopausal women were asked to define their menopausal voices. They were interviewed in depth and their information was collected through semi-structured interviews. This approach used a qualitative methodology with a focus on meaning of their voices rather than measurement. The format was narrative research using life stories and thematic analysis. As a result, five themes: The Voice of Wisdom, The Voice of Aging, The Voice of relationship, The Voice of Spirit, and the Voice of Knowledge emerged after analyzing the women's stories. Each theme represents the complexities that influenced the participants’ competence to ascribe meaning to their voices. This article identifies the meanings that menopausal women associated with the concept of voice and how it changed during menopause.     

The peculiarity of the dialectical ideas of the Second Teacher,a prominent representative of the Muslim Renaissance

This paper investigates the development of dialectical concepts about the universe, being, metaphysics, scientific methods, and the knowledge of philosophers. The methods it uses are mainly theoretical and empirical methods, such as analysis and synthesis. Within the boundaries of the designated topic, it offers a systematic analysis of the historical periodization of Arab Muslim philosophy from the eighth century to the twentieth. The paper examines the activities of the prominent philosopher and mathematician Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Farabi, showing the circumstances of his borrowing certain forms, concepts, and structures from ancient Greek philosophers. The paper's main conclusion is that al-Farabi is a Second Teacher in modern philosophy, meaning the continuation in his works of the search for a scientific approach to the study of various forms of being.     

Response to Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth's review of Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen (ed.), The Alternative Luther: Lutheran Theology from the Subaltern

This is a response to Jennifer Hockenbery Dragseth's review of Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen (ed.), The Alternative Luther: Lutheran Theology from the Subaltern. Dragseth delivers a prudent and insightful review of the book. I agree with Dragseht's points, thus I will here make no more than a few deepening points in addition to those.     

Sexual Self-Esteem and Perfectionism in Women With and Without Overweight

The purpose of this study was to examine sexual self-esteem and perfectionism among Iranian women with and without overweight based on the role of age and education; and to investigate the relationships of sexual self-esteem, perfectionism, and body mass index in a sample of adult women. Participants were 200 women with and without overweight who were selected following a purposive sampling method from Shiraz City, Iran. A demographic questionnaire, Sexual Self-Esteem Inventory for Women (SSEI-W), and Perfectionism Inventory (PI) were used. Resulting data showed that women without overweight had higher total scores of sexual self-esteem and on the WWEI-W subscale of attractiveness compared with women who are overweight. Also, women who are overweight had higher total scores of perfectionism, as well as higher scores on subscales of interpersonal sensitivity and high standards for others compared to women without overweight. There was no significant effect for age and educational level on sexual self-esteem and perfectionism. The results demonstrated significantly negative relationships between overall sexual self-esteem, attractiveness subscale of sexual self-esteem, and body mass index. Also, the overall perfectionism and interpersonal sensitivity, striving for excellence, organization, and standards for others subscales of perfectionism had a significant positive relationship to the body mass index.     

Letters to the Editor

No abstract available for this article.     

From a ‘memorable place’ to ‘drops in the ocean’: on the marginalization of women philosophers in German historiography of philosophy

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the striking absence of women philosophers from German historiography of philosophy during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. While the general topic has been considered before, additional documents and considerations are presented that will help us better understand the omission of women philosophers in the German context. Firstly, material is presented showing that women philosophers were widely discussed in Germany prior to 1800. These discussions stand sharply in contrast with the silence about women in subsequent general histories of philosophy. Secondly, it is shown that the absence of women philosophers in German historiography of philosophy during the nineteenth century is not entirely new but has to be seen as a continuation of tendencies characteristic for the historiography of philosophy already during the eighteenth century. Thirdly, it is argued that, towards the end of the nineteenth century, there was a new stimulus for thinking about women in the history of philosophy, namely women’s emancipation and, more specifically, the right to a university education. Seen in this light, the renewed and intensified effort to diminish women philosophers can be understood as a symptomatic attempt to keep women out of academia in general, and out of philosophy in particular.     

An Integration of Feminist and Psychoanalytic Theory

No abstract available for this article.