Religion, Society and Gendered-Politics in Central Asia: A comparative analysis

Abstract

Women political participation is understood to be a part of civic rights
but their participation is hindered by various factors. Numerous researchers
have claimed that Islam as a religion, Muslim social culture and tradition
inhibit women from political participation in Muslim societies. However, there
are a number of Muslim majority countries where women occupy the highest
public offices and head ministries. How can this contradiction be explained.
This article examines women political participation in Central Asian Muslim
republics by looking at socioeconomic, parliamentary representation and
informal participation factors. The study argues that socioeconomic factors in
the republics still do not allow much liberal public space for women to take
part in politics; however, in terms of parliamentary representation the republics
maintains a record that sometimes are better off than many mature democracies.
In terms of informal participation the region records better visibility of women
in politics.