Religion, gender and citizenship: faithful women, gender equality and Feminism

Chapter abstracts Chapter 1 Religious women on faith, identity, citizenship and feminism Nyhagen and Halsaa introduce the main issues addressed in this unique, comparative study of Christian and Muslim women in Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom: religious faith, identity, citizenship, gender equality and feminism. Based on qualitative interviews, in-depth empirical evidence is brought forward, focusing on the importance of religion for identity, citizenship, gender equality and feminism from the point of view of religious women themselves. Nyhagen and Halsaa briefly report some findings before situating the study within the historical, socio-political and religious contexts of Norway, Spain and the UK. The four-dimensional research strategy to include women belonging to majority and minority Christian and Muslim faith communities (the dominant state-supported churches, Pentecostal congregations, Sunni and Shia mosques) in the three countries is described. (Continues...)