'Not Another Hijab Row': New conversations on gender, race, religion and the making of communities

Headscarves in schools. Sexual violence in Indigenous communities. Muslim women at public swimming pools. Polygamy. Sharia law. Outspoken Imams on sexual assault. Integration and respect for women. It seems that around the world in the media and public debate, women’s issues are at the top of the agenda. Yet all too often, support for women’s rights is proclaimed loudest by conservative politicians intent on policing communities and demonising Muslims during the ‘war on terror’. This edition of the Transforming Cultures eJournal offers critical reflections on the contemporary politics of gender, race and religion, and provides a platform for those perspectives which are too often sidelined in the debate, perspectives that seek to go beyond simplistic debates such as ‘hijab: to ban or not to ban?’ or ‘Muslim women: oppressed or liberated?