The IS Woman as Anti-Development Agent? An Analysis of the Postcolonial Feminist Critique to Modernization Theories in the Context of the Status of Women in the Islamic State

Seminar paper from the year 2022 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 1.0, University of Vienna (International Development), language: English, abstract: This paper is set out to explore the nexus of development and gender equality from a critical perspective on the postcolonial feminist critique to modernization theories. It, thereby, focuses on the status of women in the Islamic state (IS) shedding light on the points of contention between the postcolonial feminist perspective on development and the liberal feminist perspective, yet adding a further dimension to the debate - namely the issue of non-development. This derives from the thesis that the actions by IS women stand in opposition to modernization theories and development theories in general, and that IS women were not only victims in need of aid but also perpetrators. The paper will, thus, answer the question in how far IS woman can be considered anti-development agents by reflecting on gendered barriers to development as well as on drivers of female agency identified in the Islamic State's manifesto on women and the IS online magazines Rumiyah and Dabiq, and by comparing and contrasting them with the postcolonial feminist critique to modernization theories.