Law, Democracy, and Religion: The Case of Bangladesh

University Of Oregon Eugene, Eugene OR

Investigators

Abstract

Dr. Lamia Karim will undertake research on democracy, legal reform, and women's organizations in Bangladesh. Islamists and secularists have different visions of the ideal Bangladesh state and the roles of women in it. Karim will investigate the differential effects of secular and relgious women's organizations in promoting women's rights. The study is comparative and ethnographic. The researcher will compare the strategies and effects of two human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and one conservative Islamic missionary group. The research is organized around four overaching topics: (1) the role of pro-women's organization in securing human rights for Muslim women; (2) how female beneficiaries of human rights programs evaluate Islamic laws, democracy and individual rights; (3) the role of Islamic women missionaries who advocate Islamic laws as the sole source of justice for women; (4) how rural male elites and clergy respond to the feminization of rural power structures by human rights NGOs. The research methodology is based on ethnography, focus group interviews, case studies, news reports, and interviews with a cross-section of rural and urban women and men. The findings of this research will contribute to social scientific understanding of the relationship between democracy, law, religion, and human rights, particularly for women. The results also will inform culturally specific policies to increase the human security of women.