Doha: Rafia Zakaria (pictured), an author, attorney, and human rights activist, will speak at Northwestern Qatar as part of its Hiwar Speaker Series.
Zakaria is the author of several books on women’s rights, including 'The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan and Veil', as well as numerous essays published in The Guardian, CNN, and The New York Times Book Review.
Northwestern Qatar Professor Banu Akdenizli says Zakaria’s experience as a Pakistani-American woman challenging Global North narratives inspires people around the world to challenge prevailing views of feminism.
“Zakaria’s work on women’s rights forces us to take a look at the issues facing feminists beyond the lens of the white feminist movement and discuss practical solutions to empowering women around the world,” she said
Zakaria’s latest book, 'Against White Feminism', outlines how white-centric feminism has contributed to the oppression of women of colour around the world. Drawing from her experience feeling excluded as a scholar from the mainstream feminist conversation, she makes a case for an inclusive approach to the fight for women’s rights to take on some major shortcomings in the movement.
Zakaria, who is a regular columnist for The Baffler and the Pakistani newspaper Dawn, combines stories of her personal experiences as a woman of colour and as a lawyer, writer, and former board member for Amnesty International USA with deeply researched chapters about how whiteness and its privileges have negatively shaped the lives of millions of women over the past century.
