The discussion on the connection between the issue of religious fundamentalism and the US’s neo-liberal foreign political and economic policies increased after 9/11 tragedy. The WTC bombing in New York is seemingly evidence of how an Islamic fundamentalist group reacted to economic inequalities under neo-liberal systems. Indeed, the relationships between religious fundamentalism and neo liberalism have existed for a long time. This relationship was politically designed to create political and economic hegemony. As Amy Chua described in her book, World on Fire (2004), neo-liberal model of economic development fueled several ethnic and religious conflicts.
Furthermore, the mystery of Osama bin Laden who was subjected by the US as being involved in the 9/11 tragedy is a crucial evidence of the connection between fundamentalist groups and the US’s neo-liberal policies. This assertion seems illogical if Bin Laden has no business connections with the US. In this regard, why Bin Laden is still free and survives demonstrates how the US government wants to maintain its political and economic interests. Dylan Avery’s documentary movie, Loose Change (2007), tells a story about the conspiracy behind the WTC bombing. Meanwhile, in this article , I would like to observe how women’s issues have a significant role in the connection between religious fundamentalism and the US foreign political and economic policies, which aims to maintain neo liberalism and globalization.
First of all, a brief historical background of how European colonies began invading Muslim countries, such as Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, is a crucial point in describing this subject of discussion. It was mentioned that around the 15th century, many European voyagers traveled to the Middle East and documented women’s daily experiences. Interestingly, the European travelers only focused on documenting women’s condition of being secluded under Islamic authorities. The travelers problematized women’s veiling, harems, seclusion and domestication, among others. This European document evoked imperialism when European colonies used the women’s stories in these European documents as a reason to occupy Middle East countries. In the name of women’s liberation, European authorities applied the idea of invasion against these countries (Ahmed, 1992). In this regard, women’s issues had a crucial role in the history of Western imperialism over Muslim countries.
It is important to address the case of Iran when Ayatollah Khomeini operated the idea of Islamic fundamentalism. His decision to force Iranian women to wear veils and stay at home was an expression of his politics of religious fundamentalism. Many women’s groups in the country protested against this idea. Many of them expressed their criticism of his ideas in articles, books, public speeches, etc as we can see from the experiences of Hazar Nafisi, Ziba Mir Hosseini and Marjane Satrapi, among others. When dealing with the critics, Khomeini sent the protesters to prisons and accused them of less religious and less moral. In response to Khomeini’s, the women protesters sought protection to the US and other Western countries, such as France, Switzerland, the UK, etc.
The politics of democracy and human rights, especially that of the US government appeared when the US gave political asylum to Iranian women, and the US made a political statement on the matter. On one hand, the US government opened its arms in the name of democracy and human rights protection. On the other hand, the US blamed Iranian authorities for having undemocratic government, and for perpetrating human rights violation and even state violence. This statement became more political since the US often exploited the situation in Iran to legitimize the US position and blame the Iranian government. Indeed, Iranian women also experienced discrimination and violence during the era of the Shah when Pahlevi encouraged Iranian women to unveil in order to look more modern and “pro-Western”. However, the US had no critical response against Pahlevi’s politics or against women’s discrimination. This political game was important for the US in order to keep its good democratic image. Therefore, the US can maintain its political and economic domination over other countries in global world.
Another important case that proved the connection between religious fundamentalism and the economic and political interests of the US was Indonesia under President Soeharto. Influenced by the Iranian Revolution in 1979, many Indonesian Muslims, particularly coming from conservative and fundamentalist groups, expressed the idea of fundamentalist Islamic movements. It was not a coincidence that the 1970s to the late 1990s was a period of time when the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank started authorizing loan in Indonesia.
The government of Indonesia during that time seemed to have a very close political and economic relationship with the US government. Indonesia was an importance ally for the US. This condition of the national politics of the country was worsened when Soeharto also combined his pro-US policy with his political steps to marginalize Muslim groups in response to increasing Islamic fundamentalist expressions. At that time, he nominated non-Muslims and military links for several governmental positions. He not only marginalized Muslims in government, but also created many stigmas and stereotypes against Muslims. These all were the ways Soeharto operated his politics of anti-Muslims. State violence against Muslim groups in the case of Tanjung Priok, Jakarta in 1984 was a part of Soeharto’s political designs to discredit Muslims. He also came up with the idea of restricting female students from wearing the jilbab in their schools. Stereotypical rumors against Muslim women who wore jilbabs were established as a part of the terror against Muslim groups. I remember when I was a student of elementary school, there were many rumors about Muslim women with jilbabs, who were accused of poisoning food in market and poisoning wells.
In the 1990s, President Soeharto changed his politics of anti-Muslim with a more Islamic-friendly political strategy. This new political shifting followed Soeharto’s political goals to attract supporters from Muslim groups. On an international level, the new global political dynamics after Fukuyama’s idea of the end of history tended to prove that the US and its ally dominate universal political and economic structure. In this dominant situation, the US was not concerned about Soeharto’s political way of approaching Muslim groups. At that time, Soeharto began encouraging Muslim female students to wear jilbabs. He also visited the Holy City of Mecca for a pilgrimage, the fifth ritual Islamic foundation. Furthermore, in 1994, he initiated the foundation of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Union (Ikatan Cendikiawan Muslim Indonesia/ICMI) and gave broader opportunities for Muslims in governmental positions. Indeed, it is an interesting fact that the identity of being Muslim intellectuals was defined by Soeharto. ICMI contained a number of “modernized” Muslim technocrats, who seemed to be loyal followers of modernization and globalization. Muslim women also colored socio-religious life under this politics of ijo royo-royo[1] with their jilbab, women majlis ta’lim (Islamic studies circle) aired on TVs, etc. Therefore, it can be stated that the foundation of ICMI and the other Islamic religious expressions of Soeharto’s government seemed to be a political rhetoric, rather than Soeharto’s religious expression. In this regard, it makes sense that during the time there were many critiques against the politization of religion, particularly coming from so-called neo-traditionalist Muslim groups, such as Abdurrahman Wahid.
I would like to describe another case that shows how religious fundamentalism contributes to discrimination and violence against women and how the US played with this issues by maintaining its foreign political and economic policies. During the Taliban’s administration, Afghan Muslim women lived in poverty and political and economic seclusion. A documentary movie, Robin Benger’s Daughters of Afghan (2003), portrays worst women’s conditions under the Taliban’s Islamic government. They had to not only wear burqa and veil, but also had to experience domestication that led to feminization of poverty. What is interesting to me is the way the US with an obscure foreign political step played with this condition in order to stabilize its political dominance over the country. First of all, the US government was involved in the process of Taliban’s down-falling and yet, the US supported President Hamid Karzai. The US needs to have a political acquaintance that can escort its foreign political and economic policies in the country. Secondly, the US government also played with the issue of women’s human rights. The US government realized that women’s issues were crucial issues in the Taliban governmental policies. The US supported the Ministry of Women in Kharzai’s presidency as a counter political step against Taliban’s politics of women’s seclusion under religious fundamentalism. In this regard, the US appeared to be a hero of Afghan women and a defender of Afghan women’s human rights against Taliban’s fundamentalist movement.
From the description above, it seems that religious fundamentalism has a close connection with the US foreign political and economic policies in bringing about a neo-liberal system of hegemony. In this connection, women’s issues have a strategic position. However, rather than showing political power, women are often victimized in situations under both religious fundamentalism and neo-liberal political and economic systems. This condition indicates that both in religious fundamentalism and neo-liberal system, patriarchal values are still strongly influential in leading the development of the politics of women’s marginalization. Therefore, in this regard, the deconstruction toward more religious liberalism to emancipate Muslim women from the nightmare of religious fundamentalism, on the one side, the changing toward more traditional economic system to liberate women from the problem of neo-liberalism, on the other side, is an important effort. In religious liberalism, Muslim women possibly have adequate opportunities to express their interests. In traditional economic systems, such as a peasant market, women also probably have more spaces to participate in a more equal relationship with men. Finally, I would like to end this paper by emphasizing the importance of following Iranian feminist groups’ way of protesting Khomeini’s politics based on religious fundamentalism. These Iranian feminist’s efforts have two main strong orientations of both calling the international attention and alerting to the national fundamentalist regime. In this regard, the Iranian feminists’ experiences provide great lessons on how to build strategies in struggling against oppressions.
Bibliography
Ahmed, Leila, (1992), Women and Gender in Islam, Historical Roots of a Modern Debates, New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Benger, Robin, (2003), Daughters of Afghan (a Documentary Movie)
Chua, Amy (2004), World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, New York: Anchor Books
[1] Ijo royo-royo, a Javanese word means hijau in Indonesian or green in English. This color refers to green as the symbolic color of Islam. Therefore, the politics of ijo royo-royo is the politics of Islamization of Indonesia.
Furthermore, the mystery of Osama bin Laden who was subjected by the US as being involved in the 9/11 tragedy is a crucial evidence of the connection between fundamentalist groups and the US’s neo-liberal policies. This assertion seems illogical if Bin Laden has no business connections with the US. In this regard, why Bin Laden is still free and survives demonstrates how the US government wants to maintain its political and economic interests. Dylan Avery’s documentary movie, Loose Change (2007), tells a story about the conspiracy behind the WTC bombing. Meanwhile, in this article , I would like to observe how women’s issues have a significant role in the connection between religious fundamentalism and the US foreign political and economic policies, which aims to maintain neo liberalism and globalization.
First of all, a brief historical background of how European colonies began invading Muslim countries, such as Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, is a crucial point in describing this subject of discussion. It was mentioned that around the 15th century, many European voyagers traveled to the Middle East and documented women’s daily experiences. Interestingly, the European travelers only focused on documenting women’s condition of being secluded under Islamic authorities. The travelers problematized women’s veiling, harems, seclusion and domestication, among others. This European document evoked imperialism when European colonies used the women’s stories in these European documents as a reason to occupy Middle East countries. In the name of women’s liberation, European authorities applied the idea of invasion against these countries (Ahmed, 1992). In this regard, women’s issues had a crucial role in the history of Western imperialism over Muslim countries.
It is important to address the case of Iran when Ayatollah Khomeini operated the idea of Islamic fundamentalism. His decision to force Iranian women to wear veils and stay at home was an expression of his politics of religious fundamentalism. Many women’s groups in the country protested against this idea. Many of them expressed their criticism of his ideas in articles, books, public speeches, etc as we can see from the experiences of Hazar Nafisi, Ziba Mir Hosseini and Marjane Satrapi, among others. When dealing with the critics, Khomeini sent the protesters to prisons and accused them of less religious and less moral. In response to Khomeini’s, the women protesters sought protection to the US and other Western countries, such as France, Switzerland, the UK, etc.
The politics of democracy and human rights, especially that of the US government appeared when the US gave political asylum to Iranian women, and the US made a political statement on the matter. On one hand, the US government opened its arms in the name of democracy and human rights protection. On the other hand, the US blamed Iranian authorities for having undemocratic government, and for perpetrating human rights violation and even state violence. This statement became more political since the US often exploited the situation in Iran to legitimize the US position and blame the Iranian government. Indeed, Iranian women also experienced discrimination and violence during the era of the Shah when Pahlevi encouraged Iranian women to unveil in order to look more modern and “pro-Western”. However, the US had no critical response against Pahlevi’s politics or against women’s discrimination. This political game was important for the US in order to keep its good democratic image. Therefore, the US can maintain its political and economic domination over other countries in global world.
Another important case that proved the connection between religious fundamentalism and the economic and political interests of the US was Indonesia under President Soeharto. Influenced by the Iranian Revolution in 1979, many Indonesian Muslims, particularly coming from conservative and fundamentalist groups, expressed the idea of fundamentalist Islamic movements. It was not a coincidence that the 1970s to the late 1990s was a period of time when the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank started authorizing loan in Indonesia.
The government of Indonesia during that time seemed to have a very close political and economic relationship with the US government. Indonesia was an importance ally for the US. This condition of the national politics of the country was worsened when Soeharto also combined his pro-US policy with his political steps to marginalize Muslim groups in response to increasing Islamic fundamentalist expressions. At that time, he nominated non-Muslims and military links for several governmental positions. He not only marginalized Muslims in government, but also created many stigmas and stereotypes against Muslims. These all were the ways Soeharto operated his politics of anti-Muslims. State violence against Muslim groups in the case of Tanjung Priok, Jakarta in 1984 was a part of Soeharto’s political designs to discredit Muslims. He also came up with the idea of restricting female students from wearing the jilbab in their schools. Stereotypical rumors against Muslim women who wore jilbabs were established as a part of the terror against Muslim groups. I remember when I was a student of elementary school, there were many rumors about Muslim women with jilbabs, who were accused of poisoning food in market and poisoning wells.
In the 1990s, President Soeharto changed his politics of anti-Muslim with a more Islamic-friendly political strategy. This new political shifting followed Soeharto’s political goals to attract supporters from Muslim groups. On an international level, the new global political dynamics after Fukuyama’s idea of the end of history tended to prove that the US and its ally dominate universal political and economic structure. In this dominant situation, the US was not concerned about Soeharto’s political way of approaching Muslim groups. At that time, Soeharto began encouraging Muslim female students to wear jilbabs. He also visited the Holy City of Mecca for a pilgrimage, the fifth ritual Islamic foundation. Furthermore, in 1994, he initiated the foundation of Indonesian Muslim Intellectuals Union (Ikatan Cendikiawan Muslim Indonesia/ICMI) and gave broader opportunities for Muslims in governmental positions. Indeed, it is an interesting fact that the identity of being Muslim intellectuals was defined by Soeharto. ICMI contained a number of “modernized” Muslim technocrats, who seemed to be loyal followers of modernization and globalization. Muslim women also colored socio-religious life under this politics of ijo royo-royo[1] with their jilbab, women majlis ta’lim (Islamic studies circle) aired on TVs, etc. Therefore, it can be stated that the foundation of ICMI and the other Islamic religious expressions of Soeharto’s government seemed to be a political rhetoric, rather than Soeharto’s religious expression. In this regard, it makes sense that during the time there were many critiques against the politization of religion, particularly coming from so-called neo-traditionalist Muslim groups, such as Abdurrahman Wahid.
I would like to describe another case that shows how religious fundamentalism contributes to discrimination and violence against women and how the US played with this issues by maintaining its foreign political and economic policies. During the Taliban’s administration, Afghan Muslim women lived in poverty and political and economic seclusion. A documentary movie, Robin Benger’s Daughters of Afghan (2003), portrays worst women’s conditions under the Taliban’s Islamic government. They had to not only wear burqa and veil, but also had to experience domestication that led to feminization of poverty. What is interesting to me is the way the US with an obscure foreign political step played with this condition in order to stabilize its political dominance over the country. First of all, the US government was involved in the process of Taliban’s down-falling and yet, the US supported President Hamid Karzai. The US needs to have a political acquaintance that can escort its foreign political and economic policies in the country. Secondly, the US government also played with the issue of women’s human rights. The US government realized that women’s issues were crucial issues in the Taliban governmental policies. The US supported the Ministry of Women in Kharzai’s presidency as a counter political step against Taliban’s politics of women’s seclusion under religious fundamentalism. In this regard, the US appeared to be a hero of Afghan women and a defender of Afghan women’s human rights against Taliban’s fundamentalist movement.
From the description above, it seems that religious fundamentalism has a close connection with the US foreign political and economic policies in bringing about a neo-liberal system of hegemony. In this connection, women’s issues have a strategic position. However, rather than showing political power, women are often victimized in situations under both religious fundamentalism and neo-liberal political and economic systems. This condition indicates that both in religious fundamentalism and neo-liberal system, patriarchal values are still strongly influential in leading the development of the politics of women’s marginalization. Therefore, in this regard, the deconstruction toward more religious liberalism to emancipate Muslim women from the nightmare of religious fundamentalism, on the one side, the changing toward more traditional economic system to liberate women from the problem of neo-liberalism, on the other side, is an important effort. In religious liberalism, Muslim women possibly have adequate opportunities to express their interests. In traditional economic systems, such as a peasant market, women also probably have more spaces to participate in a more equal relationship with men. Finally, I would like to end this paper by emphasizing the importance of following Iranian feminist groups’ way of protesting Khomeini’s politics based on religious fundamentalism. These Iranian feminist’s efforts have two main strong orientations of both calling the international attention and alerting to the national fundamentalist regime. In this regard, the Iranian feminists’ experiences provide great lessons on how to build strategies in struggling against oppressions.
Bibliography
Ahmed, Leila, (1992), Women and Gender in Islam, Historical Roots of a Modern Debates, New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Benger, Robin, (2003), Daughters of Afghan (a Documentary Movie)
Chua, Amy (2004), World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, New York: Anchor Books
[1] Ijo royo-royo, a Javanese word means hijau in Indonesian or green in English. This color refers to green as the symbolic color of Islam. Therefore, the politics of ijo royo-royo is the politics of Islamization of Indonesia.
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