Historical View of the Religious Diasporas in The Middle East. A Study of Women in Transition
Author Name
Navneet Samuel and Rida Afreen
Author Address
AMU, Aligarh
Keywords
Religious conflicts, gender role, sociopolitical unrest, traditional legacies, conquers and migrants, historical legacy, women issues, culture and hegemony.
Abstract
As a region of multiple civilizations, the Middle East has been surrounded by many languages, cultures, ethnicities and religions. From the ancient times to the modern era, the Middle East has witnessed a continuous commotion and unrest. The last century is a very crucial to understand the present condition of this society. The crises and wars which this region is facing has very deep historical roots which still continues to grow. The social and political unrests of this region has led to the numerous amount of human and environmental loss. The people of this region somehow faced this terrible unsocial norms of the society by being victims of wars, unemployment, insecurity and uneducation. This unrest and instability has led the people to migrate from their places in order to look for a better life. But these Migrations and Diasporas are not new to the people of the Middle East. This paper will examine the historical backgrounds to the causes of continues unrest and migration from this region. The social, economical and political changes that led to the spark in the crises. Furthermore, it will also explore the religious and ethical beliefs of the people of the region which played an important factor in creating some never ending conflicts in the name of religion. The paper will give credit to the Middle East in playing a pivotal role by which human learning of monotheism, literature, architecture, military etc took place. The study will try to elucidate what impact the Middle Eastern society made on other regions and how other cultures and societies made changes in the region. To say about gendered roles, the region witnessed changes throughout history in classifying male and female roles, mostly by the social practices of their conquerors and migrants. The flow of migrants from this region is also to be understood in two ways, namely the indigenous people migrated because of their societal unrest and crises to get better shelter and livelihood, Secondly in need to acquire more riches and spread their culture and hegemony. This paper will ask questions on why only this region has faced such enormous migrations of citizens around the world and vice versa? And how history gives testimony to the continuous unrest and turmoil in the region? The role of men and women becomes more important in analyzing the social conditioning of the region. Thus, it will also focus on the issues of women who being a weaker vessel played crucial roles in these Diasporas by carrying with them their traditional legacies.
Conference
International Conference on "Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge and Culture"