Canadian Council of Muslim Women Orientalist Feminism with Dr. Wafaa Hasan

Join us on May 25th at 7:30 pm ET for our next Muslim Women Scholars Series seminar!

Abstract

Standing on the shoulders of trailblazing and critical racialized feminists, such as Nawaal el Saadawi, Ien Ang, Sunera Thobani, Gayatri Spivak, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Chandra Mohanty, Fatima Mernissi, Mallica Vajrathon, Patricia Monture, Dr. Wafaa Hasan will argue that the legacy of “colonial dialogue” in North-South transnational feminist relationships remains. Through close readings of published academic dialogues, political manifestos, film and firsthand interviews with Palestinian women, Dr. Hasan will explore subtle and overt patterns of Orientalized feminism and “colonial dialogues” within solidarity work between self-titled “anti-racist,” “anti-occupation” solidarity activists for Palestine and Palestinian women (and communities). Dr. Hasan will lay out the insidious patterns of “white feminist authority” (Lam) and abandonment during crises, through the violent and reckless impositions of white feminist ontologies (masqueraded condescendingly as intellectual rigour and superior moralities, through referential authority to European and often male theories of nationalism or liberalism). The continual dismissal of Palestinian women’s voices in critical solidarity spaces in historic Palestine and in the diaspora invites us to consider not only the materiality of epistemic violence in settler colonial societies but also Palestinian women’s sophisticated politics of refusal.

When: May 25th at 7:30 pm ET

Where: Friends House, 60 Lowther Ave, Toronto, ON M5R 1C7

Please note that the event is only available in person, and registration is required to attend.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Wafaa Hasan is a community advocate, author and professor at the University of Toronto. She has published on topics such as Islamophobia in Canada; globalized Islamophobia; contemporary trends of globalization in the Middle East; relations between Arab-Canadian leaders/organizations and the Harper government in Canada; Palestinian childhood in Canadian literature; and global practices of resilience in displacement in her book Countering Displacements: The Creativity and Resilience of Indigenous and Refugee-ed Peoples (U of A Press, 2012). She has been a keynote speaker in various venues, asked to speak about anti-racist feminist practices in solidarity work, particularly in Palestine. She also works in community and as a consultant on anti-Palestinian racism in public school institutions. Wafaa’s Ph.D. dissertation, “Orientalist Feminism: Eastward Pedagogies in Israeli-Palestinian Dialogues” was nominated for the Governor General’s Academic Medal and the Canadian Association for Graduate Students’/University of Microfilms International’s CAGS/UMI Distinguished Dissertation Award at McMaster University. She was nominated for a teaching award at McMaster University and was recently awarded a manuscript workshop award through the Hearing Palestine program at the University of Toronto for her upcoming research on colonial dialogues. Wafaa arrived in Canada as a Humanitarian Refugee following the Gulf War and the ensuing mass displacement of Palestinians from Kuwait. Having been raised by a single mother in a government housing complex in Toronto, Wafaa is deeply committed to the value of social services, such as affordable housing, women’s shelters, anti-racist GBV initiatives, public healthcare and an equitable education system.

www.wafaahasan.com

https://wgsi.utoronto.ca/person/wafaa-hasan/

About the Series: The Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) is pleased to present the Muslim Women Scholars Series. One of CCMW's strategic goals is to promote critical thinking among Muslims and non-Muslims to challenge stereotypes and assumptions about Islam, Muslim women and their families. One way of doing this is to feature the work of contemporary Muslim women scholars focusing on diverse topics related to Muslim women.

For more information or partnership opportunities, email us at events@ccmw.com.