Feminism and World Religions (McGill Studies in the History of Religions, A Series Devoted to International Scholarship) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791440249 ISBN 13: 9780791440247

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1998

Synopsis

Addressing religion and feminism on a global scale, this unprecedented book contains a nuanced and fine-tuned treatment of seven of the world’s religions from a feminist perspective by leading women scholars. Feminism and World Religions contains chapters on Hinduism by Vasudha Narayanan, Buddhism by Rita M. Gross, Confucianism by Terry Woo, Taoism by Karen McLaughlin and Eva Wong, Judaism by Ellen M. Umansky, Christianity by Rosemary Radford Ruether, and Islam by Riffat Hassan, along with a general introduction and a postscript by Katherine K. Young and a preface by Arvind Sharma. The fact that these authors share a dual but undivided commitment both to themselves as women and to their traditions as adherents imparts to their voices a prophetic quality, and if Mahatma Gandhi is to be believed, even scriptural value.

About this title

About the Author:

Arvind Sharma is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University. He has edited several books, among them, Women in World Religions; Religion and Women; and Today’s Woman in World Religions, all published by SUNY Press.

Katherine K. Young is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at McGill University. She has edited several books, among them (with Harold Coward and Julius Lipner) Hindu Ethics: Purity, Abortion, and Euthanasia, published by SUNY Press, and Images of the Feminine.

From Publishers Weekly:

Until very recently, women have been invisible workers in the world's religions. Feminist critiques of religion, however, have begun to question centuries of perceived religious marginalization of women. Sharma (Women in World Religions) and Young (coauthor of Hindu Ethics) compile essays by leading feminist scholars that examine ways that such critiques are changing the roles of women in seven world religions. Each scholar explores the impact of feminism on her own religious tradition. For example, Ellen Umansky, who teaches Judaic Studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut, traces the history of women's roles in the three major denominations of Judaism and demonstrates that slowly over the years women's religious roles have shifted from the home to the temple and the rabbinate. In a fascinating essay, University of Florida religion professor Vasudha Narayanan examines Hindu goddesses and the rituals surrounding their worship to show how such rituals give women new power in a rigidly hierarchical system. Other scholars explore Buddhism (Rita Gross), Confucianism (Terry Woo), Taoism (Karen Laughlin and Eva Wong), Christianity (Rosemary Radford Ruether) and Islam (Riffat Hassan). Because of its completeness, this book offers an excellent introduction to the study of women in world religions.

Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0791440249
• ISBN 13: 9780791440247
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 344
• Editor: Sharma Arvind