Over at Tabsir there’s a fascinating interview with Ziba Mir-Hosseini on the current state of Islamic feminism and some of the developments that are currently taking place at what she calls the periphery of the Muslim world (specifically Indonesia and Malaysia, but her remarks are relevant for movements in Iran and the Arab world). A couple of things struck me here, but what I found most valuable was how she discusses the contingent nature of advances in gaining for rights for women in the Muslims world. As Mir-Hosseini puts it, it’s not about whether Sunni or Shi’a Islam is more favorable to reinterpreting legal and theological tenets as it is about the interest of individual political regimes in supporting incremental change. In any case, for those of you who have seen her films or read her work, an interesting piece to read. Btw, Mir-Hosseini has been involved in the past few years in creating the group Musawa that is putting forth an actual platform of action to achieve the kinds of aspirational goals she is arguing for here.