The Image of Religious Women in the Politico– Religious Discourse in Morocco

Abstract

This study addresses the depiction of religious women in the discourse of Moroccan religious and politico–religious actors to reveal the relationship between the forms of religious discourse and attitudes of various religious actors, the challenges and strategies of hegemony, and the struggle to acquire sources of legitimacy and authority. The author adopts a critical perspective on these discourses to find the mechanisms for their continuation and the intersection points between different forms of religiosity on the issue of women and their religious and political role and gender identity. The author uses dynamic sociological approaches to highlight the confluence of cultural and social expressions specific to the image of religious women in relation to the conflict with the will to power and the struggle over legitimacy. These are symbolic orders constructed by religious actors to impose hegemony on social action through the control of women’s religiosity.