Gender, religion and harm: Conceptual and methodological reflections

The introductory chapter discusses the contested concept of HCP and reflects on its relationship to the equally complex notion of religion. It discusses why concepts such as HCP are highly problematic, while arguing there is a need to consider them from a critical perspective. It then explores the tense relationship between feminism and religion, continuing with how global and local dynamics around gender and religion need to be understood in the context of broader historical entanglements between religion, secularism and colonialism. Finally, the chapter argues that cultural relativism and decolonial critiques offer crucial methodological and analytical tools to understand how gender inequality and related forms of harm and violence are experienced and challenged within particular contexts, and by women in particular.