Personal Info
- Country of residence: United States
Information
Laila Abu-Lughod (in English: Lila
Abu-Lughod) (1952) is an American professor of Palestinian and Jewish descent
on the mother's side. She specializes in anthropology and feminist studies and
is the daughter of the Palestinian thinker Ibrahim Abu-Lughod and the
sociologist Janet Abu-Lughod. Laila is currently a professor of anthropology,
women's studies, and gender at Columbia University.
her life
Laila was born in 1952 to a
Palestinian father and an American mother of Jewish origin. She studied in the
United States and graduated from Carleton University in 1974. She obtained a
Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1984. She was also awarded an honorary
doctorate in 2006 from Carleton University.
her job
Laila Abu-Lughod held academic
positions at Princeton University and New York University and became well known
early in her academic career for her research on the Bedouins of the Awlad Ali
tribe in Egypt. Her work has focused on three main areas: the relationship
between cultural forms and power, the politics of knowledge and representation,
and the dynamics of gender and the question of women's rights in the Middle
East. In 2001, Laila delivered the Louis Henry Lecture at the University of
Rochester, which is the most important annual series of lectures in the field
of anthropology in the world.
Do Muslim women need saving?
Laila Abu-Lughod contributed to the
discussions about the image of Muslim women in society, especially in the
post-9/11 contexts, and the discussions that sparked them about the Middle
East, Islam, and women's rights. It examines the validity and safety of these
ideas. Abu-Lughod concludes that Muslim women, like other women of other
religions and cultures, need to be dealt with within correct historical, social
and ideological contexts. She believes that “saving” Muslim women involves
racist ideas that portray Muslim societies as savage and barbaric. Religion is
not only responsible for this situation, but there are many factors involved in
the matter, such as poverty, education, government tyranny, international conflicts,
and others. Laila Abu-Lughod's writing of this article and her involvement in
these discussions that followed the 9/11 attacks were enough to make many
compare her with Edward Said in postcolonial studies and orientalism.
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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