How and why have women come to play a central role in the political project of Islamic revivalism and in the power struggles between Islamic and secular forces in Turkey? Ayse Saktanber rejects approaches to this issue that ask what Islam means for the position of women or see Muslim women as the 'reverse' or the 'dark' side of modernity. She examines the experiences of women for whom the discourse of modernity has no relevance and looks at the ways in which they have become crucial agents in the effort to make Islam a living social practice in a secular order. Full of fascinating accounts of the lives of Islamist women, this study is essential for anyone interested in the contemporary Muslim world.

Ayse Saktanber is Associate Professor in Sociology and Women's Studies at the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, and the editor of ' Fragments of Culture: the everyday of modern Turkey ' (I.B.Tauris).