Gender discourse and Islamist Perspectives on Feminism [–] A new series on gender discourse and Islamist perspectives on feminism to be published by Conflicts Forum. Conflicts Forum is seeking to address how Islamist women, who are also feminists, understand feminism. What does it mean to be feminist within the world of Islamic movements? Many in the West would see such a discourse as an oxymoron. However Islamist feminists insist that their western counterparts have no claim to hegemony, and they demand respect and the space for a distinct Islamic perspective on this issue. Making that space within the western dominated discourse, and fending off external imposition, requires that ‘new’ language must be inscribed within it: one that argues an alternative perspective. To support this debate, Conflicts Forum has commissioned a series of monographs on feminism and gender from a stance within the Islamist community. The purpose is to ask writers – Islamist women and writers as well as other writers and researchers – to take up the task of constructing ‘new’ language; and to situate the Islamic perspective within the wider debate, by challenging the dominant meme – especially in its claim that Islam represses women.