Secularity, Gender, and Emancipation: Thinking through Feminist Activism and Feminist Approaches to the Secular

In this article, I engage with feminist discussions about secularity, gender and
emancipation. The feminist study of the secular was spurred by interventions of
Saba Mahmood (2005), and can be seen as a critical engagement with at least
one basic assumption that underlies much of progressive thinking – that
secularism is beneficial for women and LGBTQ subjects. I begin by exploring
how the Belgian feminist activist platform Baas Over Eigen Hoofd! (Boss Over
One’s Own Head!) builds a locally suited theory and practice of emancipation. I
analyse how BOEH! raises questions about gender and secularity. Second, I
zoom-out by mapping feminist studies of the secular in Western European
contexts, distinguishing various analytical approaches and visions on socialpolitical secular emancipatory alternatives. To conclude, I relate local feminist activism to feminist academic discussions, and argue that there is a continued need for thinking about shared emancipatory futures.