ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relation between religion, secularism and emancipation, taking Malala Yousafzai's activism and experiences as guidelines. Amongst others, it will address the emancipatory potential of religion, and demonstrates how some Muslim women redefine emancipation through their religion. In addition, the chapter discusses the concept of agency and provides an account of the contemporary theoretical debates concerning this concept. It demonstrates that a critical and affirmative relation to difference is absolutely crucial, and that the relation between secularism and religion plays an essential part. Many public debates concerning migration and integration in the Netherlands explicitly refer to the unequal position of women within Islam. The chapter will ends with a discussion of the relation between religion and secularism in contemporary feminism, paying attention to the generational differences between feminists as well as the question of whether implicating religion within feminism is a typical third wave phenomenon.
