On April 4, the Political Science Department at the University of Massachusetts Boston hosted the 2017 Jalal Alamgir Memorial Lecture with guest speaker Professor Sherene H. Razack, Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles.
This annual lecture was originally established in 2012 to honor the late Alamgir, who was an Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at UMass Boston. After his tragic and sudden death in 2011, his family and colleagues from the department founded this lecture series, as well as the Jalal Alamgir Memorial Scholarship.
In the opening remarks, Erin O’Brien, the Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science, said that this lecture is about “honoring a friend and colleague that we miss quite deeply,” and emphasized that Alamgir is remembered for his “gentleness, true kindness, and his analytic excellence.” Furthermore, the lecture and scholarship not only honor Jalal, but also serve to advance the issues that he cared about, such as social justice and foreign policy.
This year’s lecture was called “A Sight/Site We Cannot Bear: The Eviction From Public Space Of Muslim Women Wearing the Niqab.” While giving her introduction of Razack, Political Science Professor Leila Farsakh commented, “Given the present change in politics, this topic could not be more pertinent.”
During her talk, Razack discussed the perceived threat that Muslim women pose, as well as several legal measures that have been introduced in Western countries to ban them from public spaces.
“It’s politically urgent to analyze how bans work,” Razack said.
She pointed out that the reasoning behind those bans is often times that they are seen as necessary to maintain cultural homogeneity, and that they are just for the women’s own good.
Razack also explained that there has been a shift in how Muslim women wearing the Niqab are perceived in Western countries. While they were first seen as figures of pity, they are now often regarded as dangerous. However, while on one hand Muslim women are seen more and more as the aggressor, they are also still seen as being controlled by Muslim men.
Razack also asserted, “The veil is a sight of frustrated colonial ambition,” because the women hold on to their identity which the colonial powers tried to erase decades and centuries ago.
Additionally, Razack claims the veil also hinders Westerners from employing their “visual control” on the women. As a consequence, Westerners (especially men) experience fascination, anger, and frustration because the veiled woman is “refusing to bare herself to Western gaze.” As a consequence, “a gendered eviction from the public community” follows as “the covered woman is an unbearable sight.”
Razack argues that it becomes preferable to simply ban veiled women from public places so that Westerners no longer have to think about their existence.
“Bans enable us to refuse to see,” Razack explains. In recent years, public space for all Muslims in general, but specifically also women, has been shrinking rapidly.
Razack also pointed out that a major issue during the development of these bans it that women are often times left out of the conversation, unable to contribute their opinions, and that the laws (requiring either unveiling and veiling) “don’t pay attention to what women want.”