Education Methodology, Essay Example

In Jamie Kucinskas’s article “A research note on Islam and gender egalitarianism,” the author culls a number of important sources to support her argument regarding the relationship between Islamic religious beliefs (in both men and women) and beliefs towards gender equality. This paper will examine how Kucinskas’ cites the articles in her paper, and if she uses the citations accurately and correctly.

The first source examined is Nadje’s Ali-Al’s paper entitled “The Women’s Movement in Egypt, with Selected References to Turkey.” This article arguably plays the most important role in Kuckinskas’ paper. Overall, this paper is quoted four times in Kuckinskas’s article: 1) On Page 761, Ali is quoted (along with other authors) in support of a point that feminists and women Islamic organizations, although perhaps holding different beliefs, have worked together to promote women’s rights and establish equitable treatment for women  in an Islamic context (Kuckinskas, 2010); 2) On page 762, Ali is quoted again to buttress a point that correlates the rise of more orthodox Islam  with  the rise of gender traditionalism and “retrenchment of women’s rights” in Islamic countries (Kuckinskas, 2010).  3) On page 763, Ali’s paper is quoted pertaining to a point regarding women who have lost rights and their potential connection to groups that are “pro-western, antagonistic to Islam, influenced by leftist ideologies” (Kuckinskas, 2010). 4) Finally, on page 763, Ali’s paper is quoted as providing evidence for Kuckinskas’s third hypothesis that is tested in the paper: That is, Egyptian women may be more open to religious reinterpretations of gender roles vis-à-vis males’ more conservative readings (Kuckinskas, 2010).

In order to assess whether Kuckinskas’ has used the above citations properly, the basic structure of Ali-Al’s paper will be examined, also examining the type of citation used.  Ali-Al’s paper is essentially one of comparison, attempting to look at both similarities and differences between Egypt and Turkey.  Ali-Al in her paper essentially argues while some scholars tend to speak of “Middle Eastern women” as a monolithic identity, due to differences in beliefs and local conditions across the region, there is no such thing as a “Middle Eastern women.” Kuckinskas uses a similar structure in her paper through trying to look at the role of Islam in two different countries (Egypt and Turkey) through the lens of gender egalitarianism.  That is, while Ali-Al is looking through a dual lens of women’s movements in Egypt and Turkey were Islam plays a role but is not necessarily the main factor, Kuckinskas is trying to establish a relationship between the type of religious belief and conceptions of gender egalitarianism.  That is, Kucinskas’ first three citations of the paper are essentially factual in nature: Kucinskas hopes to build up a corpus of facts related to the concepts of belief in Islam and women’s rights- Ali Al’s comparative analysis helps her in this regard.  Thus, Kucinskas effectively uses facts presented in Ali-Al’s paper to boost her overall argument.  The fourth citation of Ali-Al, however, is somewhat different from the other three: That is, Kucinkskas uses an insight from Ali-Al’s paper as a hook to introduce the third hypothesis she will test in the paper regarding what variables (including religion) play a key role in forming Egyptian females’ conception of gender roles. Thus, while this use of citations is marginally different than the first three, it would also appear to be appropriate- particularly because there are no issues dealing with measurement or definition.

Kuckinskas also uses a book source: “The Silent Ayesha: An Egyptian Narrative: In globalization, gender, and religion.”  The source is cited three times in the paper: 1) On page 763, Kucinskas quotes the book as part of a larger point regarding the rise of Islam post-1970s,  and the rapid growth of the religion publicly, including organizations related to the religion (Kuckinskas, 2010); 2) On page 763 the book is mentioned again on the point that the role of women in society has splintered Islamic political movements- including the Muslim Brotherhood (Kuckinskas, 2010); 3) On page 768, the book is quoted as evidence that female public actors who portray a pious self often motivate female mobilization and activism (Kuckinskas, 2010).  Overall, the book, although part of a larger genre analyzing political developments in the Middle East, presents a historical narrative for the section that is cited in the Kucinskas paper. Similar to Kuckinskas’ use of Ali-Al’s paper, her main use of Ezzat’s text is to establish a base of historical facts from which she can formulate hypotheses and undertake quantitative analysis. To this end, while Kuckinskas may not share the same objective as Ezzat, she does use the citations appropriately in order to make her case.  There are no outstanding issues of using different measures or definitions of key words in the text.

The final source examined in this paper is a newspaper article, Michael Slackman’s piece in the New York Times: “Stifled, Egypt’s young turn to Islamic fervor.” The nature and medium of this citation is different from the previous two.  That is, while the first two citations were academic papers and thus putting forth a specific thesis, a newspaper articles, except for opinion pieces, should be more objective in nature reporting on facts.  Slackman’s article is used twice in the Kuckinskas’ piece: 1) On page 761, the article is used to illustrate a larger point concerning the “salience of Islamic identity” and religious beliefs with a correlation to more socially conservative gender attitudes (Kuckinskas, 2006); 2) On page 762, the article is used directly to establish the point that 60 percent of the Middle Eastern population is under 25 years of age (Kuckinskas, 2006); 3) Also on page 762, the article is cited as data point (along with Al-Ali’s piece) connecting the rise of Islamic orthodoxy and its association with gender traditionalism and retrenchment of women’s rights (Kuckinskas, 2006).  In all three citations, Kuckinskas uses Slackman’s piece to establish a factual basis for her own claims: Indeed, while the first and third citations develop a more abstract point, the second citation is merely a citation of statistics in Slackman’s piece. After reviewing Slackman’s article online, Kuckinskas accurately attributes the facts in the article, and uses Slackman’s analysis in an intellectually responsible way.

This paper has examined Kuckinskas’ use of three different sources in her paper: one academic article, one book chapter, and one newspaper article.  Overall, although each piece has a different objective, Kuckinskas uses all three sources responsibly in order to build a unique argument for her paper.

References

Al-Ali, Nadje S. (2002). The women’s movement in Egypt, with selected references to Turkey. Geneva, Switzerland: UN, Research Institute for Social Development.

Ezzat, Heba Raouf. (2001). The Silent Ayesha: An Egyptian Narrative. In Globalization, gender, and religion, edited by Jane H. Bayes and Nayereh Esfahlani Tohidi, pp. 231–58. New York: Palgrave.

Kuckinskas, J. (2010).  A research note on islam and gender egaliatariansim: an examination of Egyptian and Saudian Arabian Youth Attitudes.  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49(4), 761-770.

Slackman, Michael. (2008, February 12). Stifled, Egypt’s young turn to Islamic fervor. New York Times.