Anna has now graduated with her PhD and can be contacted on
annapiela@googlemail.com
Read all about her PhD experience at CWS.
Anna Piela
I completed my MA in Politics (MA dissertation - 'The Aegean Dispute in the Greek-Turkish Relations') and BSc in Electronic Data Processing at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Currently I am pursuing my PhD here in York. I am supervised by Dr Ann Kaloski-Naylor and Professor Haleh Afshar.
The aim of my research is to investigate the Internet as a facilitator of women's roles in Islamic revivalism, a complex movement which stresses the importance of the sources of Islam. Some Muslim women believe that the Qur'an has been misunderstood and misapplied, and that its existing patriarchal misinterpretations need to be reevaluated. These women are developing new readings that allow Muslims to argue against patriarchy from within an Islamic framework (Barlas, 2002). The Internet has made information more available as well as connecting geographically dispersed individuals, and it thus offers many possibilities for interaction and exchange of knowledge. I examine the discussions of Muslim women who come together online to explore, learn and interpret the Qur'an and other Islamic sources.
My research methodology involves a) careful reading and analysis of posts sent to women-only Muslim English-speaking newsgroups (to which I have been granted ethical access) and b) follow-up, in depth interviews with a select group of women drawn from the newsgroups. My key research questions are: What kinds of perspectives on Islam are being developed by Muslim women by the use of these newsgroups? And how does the Internet facilitate this? In subsidiary questions I consider the impact of the Internet on Muslim women's sense of their identities and I also reflect on the implications of the use of the English language in their online discussions.
My theoretical tools are interdisciplinary, ranging across internet studies and work on contemporary religion, and underpinned by feminist perspectives which take seriously the role of the researcher and the power dynamics of the research process. I am also keen to develop ways of allowing the participants to shape the form of the research project by a critical and sensitive approach to their viewpoints.
While an increasing amount of work is being undertaken on the implications of Islamic revivalism, on the role of the internet in facilitating this, my research is, surprisingly, the first to focus exclusively on Muslim women's English-language online discussion. Its importance lies in the fact that these English language sites not only bring together Muslims from many different countries, but that they also act as a 'window' to Muslim ideas for the huge, westernised, English-speaking world.