JADIDISM AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS: EDUCATION, SOCIAL REFORMS, AND THE POLITICS OF MODERNITY IN COLONIAL CENTRAL ASIA

This article examines the role of Jadidism—a late 19th and early 20th-century Islamic modernist movement in Central Asia—in advancing women’s education and rights as part of its broader agenda for societal reform. Drawing on Edward Said’s critique of Orientalist discourse, it analyzes how Jadid thinkers navigated the tensions between Islamic tradition, colonial modernity, and internal social stagnation. By advocating for girls’ education and reinterpreting Islamic texts to support gender equity, Jadid reformers sought to strengthen Muslim societies against Russian colonial domination while challenging patriarchal norms. This study argues that Jadidism’s educational reforms laid the groundwork for transformative social changes, particularly for women, though these efforts were framed within a nationalist project that instrumentalized women’s empowerment for collective progress.