The re-emergence of religion as a significant cultural, social and political, force is not gender neutral. Religion, Gender and the Public Sphere moves gender from the periphery to the centre of contemporary debates about the role of religion in public and political life. It offers a timely, multidisciplinary collection of gender-focused essays that address an array of challenges arising from the changing role and influence of religious organisations, identities, actors and values in the public sphere in contemporary multicultural and democratic societies.

Introduction: Religion, Gender, and the Public Sphere: Mapping the Terrain Niamh Reilly Part 1: Identity, Religion, Migration, and Multiculture 1.Cultural Agency, Critical Agency: Multicultural Feminist Perspectives Sawitri Saharso 2. Religion and Gender in Contemporary Political Projects of Belonging Nira Yuval-Davis 3. Gendering Religious Capital: A Case Study of Female Mainland Chinese Migrants in Hong Kong Sam Wong 4. Gendering Religious Authority in the Diaspora: Shii Women in Ireland Yafa Shanneik Part 2: Contesting Religous Subjectivities Introduction Eilís Ward 5. The End of "Woman" and the Ends of Women: A Reflection on Women's Rights in the Context of Catholicism and the Abortion Debate Tina Beattie 6.Contesting Subjectivities: Feminist Hermeneutics of Sikh Scripture Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh 7. The Gendered Politics of Religious Intimacies Stephanie Y. Mitchem 8. Gender, Buddhism, and the Bhikkhuni Ordination: Transnational Strategies for the Feminist Transformation of Religion in the 21st Century Emma Tomalin 9. Rebellious Bodies and Disordered Desires: The Challenge of Transsexuality to Influential Christian Theologies of Creation Duncan Dormor Part 3:Religion, Law, and Human Rights Introduction Niamh Reilly 10. Safeguarding Religious Freedom and Gender Equality: The Case For and Against Uniform European Human Rights Standards Titia Loenen 11. Strengthening Women's Rights in Contexts of Legal Pluralism: The Example of Mahr (Dower) Practices by Pakistani Muslims in Denmark Rubya Mehdi 12. Regulating Women's Bodies in the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights Esra Demir Gürsel 13. Guardianship in Marriage: Gender and Islamic Law in Palestine Fadwa Al-Labadi 14. The Right to Religion: Equal Right or Male Right? Alison Stuart Part 4: Religion, States, and Civil Society Introduction Rachel Pokora 15. Contentious Encounters: A Comparison of Developments in the Contemporary Indian and Pakistani Women's Movements' Relationships with Islam Nida Kirmani 16. Feminist Politics and the Governance of Migrant Integration through Religious Organizations Breda Gray 17. Defending Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Poland: A Pro-Choice Catholic Perspective Anka Grzywacz 18. Religious Persecution in Eritrea and the Role of the European Union in Tackling the Challenge Daniel R. Mekonnen and Mirjam van Reisen Part 5: Researching Religion, Constructing Knowledge: Theoretical Revisions and Methodological Challenges Introduction Stacey Scriver 19. Demythologizing Gender and Religion within Nation-States: Toward a Politics of Disbelief Naomi R. Goldenberg 20. From Fraternité to Mixité: Notes on How Gender Matters to the Secular Sarah Bracke 21. Exploring Religion, Sexuality, and Identity in Context: Reflections on Sociological Perspectives Vesna Malesevic 22. Conclusion: Gender Justice and the "Postsecular" Public Sphere: Toward Non-Oppressive Reconfigurations Niamh Reilly and Stacey Scriver

Niamh Reilly is Established Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She has published widely on transnational women's movements, feminist and political theory, human rights, women peace and conflict and gender and religion. She is author of Women's Human Rights: Seeking Gender Justice in a Globalizing Age (2009) and editor of International Human Rights of Women (2019).

Stacey Scriver is a Lecturer in the Discipline of Gender and Women's Studies, School of Political Science and Sociology, and Director of the MA Gender, Globalisation and Rights, at at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her research interests and publications focus on gender, violence, inequality and identity. Her recent publications have appeared in Women's Studies International Forum, Journal of Political Power and Irish Educational Studies, and she is founder and co-editor of Dearcadh: Graduate Journal of Gender, Globalisation and Rights.