ABSTRACT
This chapter provides to explorations of women’s political agency by focusing on the political organization of South Asian women within the context of contemporary British society. The colonial image of South Asian women as being unable to resist the power exerted by patriarchal relations in the face of dharma and karma has been transported to the postcolonial British context as a racialized discourse. The term ‘South Asian woman ’ carries within it boundaries based on religious interpretations, caste and class, so that South Asian feminist political coalitions too are riven by these differences. South Asian women’s projects have become visible for challenging racist and sexist stereotypes, structures and expectations, found both in South Asian ‘communities’ and in British organizations. The importance of religion, most notably Islam, in some South Asian women’s struggle for equality and freedom is noticeable; a religious framework can be used to overcome oppression and to gain rights.
