Injustices in the Hijab Debates: Orientalist, Ideological, and Epistemic Injustices in Dominant Hijab Discourse

Abstract

In this dissertation, I analyze epistemic injustices and ideological factors that block or obscure contemporary public discourse about the Islamic veil (or hijab) and contribute to the marginalization of Muslim women and all Muslims. I begin with an overview of Edward Said’s theory of Orientalism, and I include a focus on Orientalist myths and frameworks, including the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ and the more recent ‘War on Terror’. I zoom in on Orientalist examples that highlight the gendered dimension of colonial discourses and misrepresentations of the veil. In addition to Orientalism, I substantiate my analyses with the theory of Unknowability, mainly following Kristie Dotson and Kyle Whyte’s (2013) account. I utilize the framework of Unknowability to clarify the marginalization experienced by Muslims and Muslim women. I then move on to a deeper investigation of current discourse on the hijab, zooming in on the Orientalist myth that claims the veil is “unique to Muslim women,” and Martha Nussbaum’s (2012) pro-burqa ban arguments. In my analysis of this Orientalist myth, I demonstrate how both Western interests and the Islamic Right—via a flipped Orientalism—benefit from it. In examining Nussbaum’s arguments, I show that they reproduce many Orientalist and epistemic injustices long identified by feminist, decolonial, Black and Indigenous scholars, and other scholars of colour. As a result, her discussion dangerously serves the marginalization of Muslim women and Muslims more broadly. In the last two chapters, I shift my focus to the intra-Muslim context. I examine the hijab as a social practice embedded within cultural scripts and social structures by expanding on Fatema Mernissi’s (1991) account of the hijab and by utilizing Sally Haslanger’s (2017; 2018) account of social practices. Deconstructing the hijab in this way provides a framework for navigating the features and modalities of the hijab and makes clearer the potential weight the practice has for Muslim women. Lastly, I examine the hermeneutical impasse between Muslim feminist advocates of the hijab and Muslim feminists critical of the hijab, focusing on the global movements ‘World Hijab Day’ and ‘No Hijab Day’ to do so. I introduce the 3rd Party Impasse to capture this case, and I demonstrate that this hermeneutical impasse is caused by each group’s need to prioritize their resistance against different third parties.