Anti-Veiling Campaigns in the Muslim World

This compilation of articles on the unveiling campaigns of the early 20th century makes a fascinating read and marks a new chapter in the Durham Modern Middle East and Islamic World Series, thus far dominated by politics rather than gender in the region. It is also a timely publication as the continuing debate on veiling rages on in Muslim and Western countries alike. Veiling - a loose definition of the Islamic head-covering - makes for a compelling title, mercifully unaccompanied by the hackneyed prepositions ‘beyond’, ‘behind’ and the likes. Yet as the conventional understanding of the term suggests (an item of bridal attire), it does not remotely come close to what is actually worn by Muslim women. Rather, as this volume and its multitudinous predecessors testify, it is a term that is inevitably related to the political aspect of covering one’s head in the name of a particular religion. It seems of little concern to the academics who peddle ‘veiling’ that few Muslim women would identify with their definition.