Abu-Lughod, L. (2002). Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological
Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others. American Anthropologist, 104(3), 783–790. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3567256

Lila Abu-Lughod explores the War on Terrorism, noting how this discourse justified the intervention in Afghanistan in order to save Afghan women. That is, Abu-Lughod argues that under the guise of equality, the West imposes colonial and missionary rhetoric on Muslim women. Rather than attempting to save the Other woman, especially in the case of a veiled Muslim woman, Abu-Lughod argues that we must embrace the diversity among women around the world. Specifically, she mentions that we, as a society, should work alongside women from different parts of the world and reflect on our own responsibilities in combating injustices.

The Teaching Against Islamophobia resources were developed with funding support from the Law Foundation of BC, and the Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies at SFU.

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