Zilka Spahic-Siljak

• PhD
• Academic Director at University of Sarajevo

The Cambridge Companion to Women and Islam provides a comprehensive overview of a timely topic that encompasses the fields of Islamic feminist scholarship, anthropology, history, and sociology. Divided into three parts, it makes several key contributions. The volume offers a detailed analysis of textual debates on gender and Islam, highlighting the...

After four years of implementation of the UNIGEM (Universities and Gender Mainstreaming) project at 19 universities in the region, the follow-up study “Echoes of Change: Advancing Gender Equality in Higher Education in the Balkans” presents an analysis and synthesis of the results obtained. In light of this research, we remain optimistic, despite t...

The book provides a comprehensive analysis of one of the most significant yet often overlooked issues faced by women and girls worldwide. The research was conducted in 28 cities across Bosnia and Herzegovina through a survey involving over 2,000 women and interviews with 73 women. Through an examination of social norms, economic challenges, and hea...

The research results presented in this report are the results of the analysis of data collected through a survey conducted on a representative sample of 1800 women and men citizens of BiH,and through focus group discussions with women leaders (3 groups) and with women members of vulnerable groups (7 focus groups) in several different locations acro...

Until the 1990s, secular feminism prevailed in the socialist Balkan countries, while religious feminism appeared only as an exception in the works of certain Catholic theologians. After democratic changes, gender equality was reaffirmed, but there was no dialogue in feminist knowledge production between secular and religious feminists. This paper p...

The participatory study adopted a mixed research method, combining desk research, quantitative, and qualitative data collection. It gathered more than 1200 young people from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Serbia, aged 18-30, who participated in two regional online consultations, one in-person regional consultation, on...

Rodni stereotipi: Znanstveno i religijski opravdane razlike kao izlika za diskriminaciju Kao jedna od ključnih prepreka za postizanje rodne ravnopravnosti u raznim međunarodnim i nacionalnim izvješćima i dokumentima navode se rodni stereotipi. Da bi se ubrzalo postizanje rodne ravnopravnosti, potrebna je dakle dekonstrukcija rodnih stereotipa i kre...

Taking into account the lack of previous studies on the prevalence of gender discrimination and gender-based violence at universities in B&H, Montenegro, Croatia, and Serbia, UNIGEM research has pioneered research of this type, aiming to establish the prevalence of different forms of gender-based violence. This research investigates the level that k...

Teaching is a complex contextualized process that has to be responsive to the needs of each individual and the community. It therefore should transcend mere dogmatic and prescriptive theoretical and pedagogical approaches. This paper discusses the development of peace pedagogy in Bosnian schools through strengthening intercultural competences, crit...

Teaching is a complex contextualized process that has to be responsive to the needs of each individual and the community. It therefore should transcend mere dogmatic and prescriptive theoretical and pedagogical approaches. This paper discusses the development of peace pedagogy in Bosnian schools through strengthening intercultural competences, crit...

Da li je seksistički humor u akademskoj zajednici forma rodno zasnovanog nasilja i diskriminacije ili je to samo bezopasna zabava? Kako je seksistički humor povezan sa rodnim stereotipima i da li podstiče organizacionu kulturu tolerancije seksizma? Navedena pitanja čine sažetak dijela istraživanja o rodno zasnovanom nasilju provedenom na 18 univerz...

Islamic feminism was barely known before 1990s in the Balkans region and Muslim women started discovering religiously based feminism after the war (1991-1995) when the first books by Fatima Mernissi were translated to Serbian and Bosnian language. Although Muslim women were engaged in public life and politics in Socialist Yugoslavia, the mainstream...

This Brochure contains a summary of the key findings of the research on GBV conducted at 18 universities in the Balkans region. More detailed analyses of the research results are available in the 12 scholarly chapters by 19 authors in the book with the same title. The aim of the University and Gender Mainstreaming -UNIGEM research was to investigat...

U raspravama o nasilju, ratovima i izgradnji mira često čujemo esencijalističke argumente o ženama i muškarcima, te poistovjećivanje muškarca sa maskulinim a žene sa femininim karakteristikama, izbjegavajući prihvatiti da i jedno i drugo u sebi sabiru i obje karakteristike, te da sve ovisi od toga kako ih njeguju i egzibiraju. Socijalizacijom se po...

Knjiga je rezultat kvantitativnog i kvalitativnog istraživanja provedenog na 18 univerziteta u BiH, Hrvatskoj, Srbiji i Crnoj Gori. Regionalno istraživanje o rodnoj neravnopravnosti i rodno zasnovanom nasilju predstavlja pionirski poduhvat, s potencijalom da iznjedri važne teorijske i praktične implikacije za uvođenje rodne perspektive u rad i djel...

This paper analyzes how the concept of gender is understood in socialist and post-socialist contexts, the models of gender relations in Christianity and Islam, and the way the secular-religious divide within the Balkan semiperiphery presents an obstacle in the path for acceptance of the concept of gender and achievement of gender equality. The cent...

Personal reflection on collaboration with Marina Blagojevic-Hughson who inspired me with her ethics of care and solidarity during our collaboration on gender studies development in the Balkans region.

U ovom radu analiziramo koliko studentice i studenti koji se deklariraju kao muslimanke i muslimani poznaju sebe i svoju religijsku tradiciju, koliko prakticiraju islam, ali i koliko poznaju druge religijske tradicije u svom okruženju te kakve stavove imaju o svojim komšijama katolicima, pravoslavnim, jevrejima i onima koji se izjašnjavaju kao atei...

U ovom radu analiziramo koliko studentice i studenti koji se deklariraju kao muslimanke i muslimani poznaju sebe i svoju religijsku tradiciju, koliko prakticiraju islam, ali i koliko poznaju druge religijske tradicije u svom okruženju te kakve stavove imaju o svojim komšijama katolicima, pravoslavnim, jevrejima i onima koji se izjašnjavaju kao atei...

Glavni argument ovog rada je da desničarski populistički diskursi koriste orodnjenje strategije preko kojih homogeniziraju svoje građane u odnosu na Druge i na taj način vješto potkopovaju rodnu ravnopravnost i slobodu žena da raspolažu svojim tijelima, reproduktivnim i drugih resursima. Desničarski populisti koriste sekularne a ne religijske argum...

Through reading Bosnia and Herzegovina women's narratives, I explore how the ethno-national victimhood discourse silenced many women and alienated them from survivors of other ethnic groups. Coupled with a neoliberal understanding and the expectations of victim/survivor identities, ethno-national victimhood discourse further alienates women from th...

Ovaj rad je kombinacija intervjua, ličnih refleksija i analize objavljenih knjiga i tekstova profesorice emerite Svenke Savić na teme feminističke teologije, ekumenskog i međureligijskog dijaloga. Cilj je prikazati njen doprinos feminističkoj teologiji koju je inicirala i razvijala u interdisciplinarnom pristupu sa drugim znanstvenim disciplinama i...

Obrazovanje je stub svakog društva, a kako je danas većina društava multietnička i medusobno su snažnije povezana tehnološkim i ekonomskim napretkom, onda je interkulturalno obrazovanje najbolji način da se kultivira etos medusobnog razumljevanja i uvažavanja. Na koncu sloboda podrazumijeva izbor, uključujući i izbor vjerovanja ili nevjerovania 1vj...

Through oral history processing work. with women peacebuilders and participation in inclusion projects of women returnees in Bosnia from 2008 2012 in Eastern and Western BiH, I collected narratives from wartime rape survivors. These narratives were analysed against the larger portrait of the social inclusion of women who returned to their prewar vi...

Secular–religious dichotomy has been criticised in discourse on secularisation theory as well as in discussions of the relationship between secular and religious feminism. Feminist theorists have criticised the secular–religious divide of feminism for overlooking facts such as the inherent gendering of this dichotomy, the participation of women bel...

Andrea Feldman wrote a review of the book Bosanski labirint: Kultura, rod i liderstvo (The Bosnian labyrinth: Culture, gender, and leadership), which I edited and coauthored with my colleagues, Suada Penava and Jasna Kovačević. She decided to cherry-pick without proper references or citations to confirm her vague and biased assumptions.

Knjiga je pisana u formi univerzitetskog udžbenika i kroz sedam poglavlja analizira pitanja roda, feminističkih teorija, rodne socijalizacije, porodice, ekonomije, jezika i religije.

Članek prikazuje tesno prepletene poti islamskega feminizma in vzpostavljanja miru v Bosni in Hercegovini. Proučuje, kako je družbeno-politični kontekst regije vplival na nastajanje miru in islamski feminizem ter kako so sekularne človekove pravice in feministične organizacije bosanskim aktivistkam omogočile plodno podlago za izvajanje feministične...

Na kraju knjige "Bosanski labirint" govorimo o novijim pristupima liderstvu koji se oslanjaju više na individualne vrijednosti, osobne predispozicije i stilove liderstva kako bi se labirint kroz koji još uvijek teško prolaze žene učinio pristupačnijim. U prethodnim poglavljima ove knjige pokazana je dominanacija muške kulture liderstva, još uvijek,...

In the period of post-war transition, knowledge production on gender and feminism remained the focus of individual scholars and activists who had a difficult time attempting to integrate it into the educational system, with the exception of a few gender and women studies programs that were largely supported by international donors. Believing that k...

In the period of postwar transition, knowledge production on gender and feminism remained the focus of individual scholars and activists who had a difficult time attempting to integrate it into the educational system, with the exception of a few gender and women studies programs that were largely supported by international donors. Believing that kn...

Recently I was part of a hot debate on Facebook about the ideal image of woman in Christianity and Islam. The first text "Mary's obedience and women today" was published by the Catholic priest, Dr. Ivica Raguz from Croatia in the Voice of Council magazine in which he stated: "If women seek equality, they are disobedient and they do not want to have...

This paper maps the closely intertwined trajectories of Islamic feminism and peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It examines how the socio-political context of the region influenced the emergence of peacebuilding and Islamic feminism, and how secular human rights and feminist organizations provided a fertile ground for female Bosnian activists...

The last decade of the twentieth century is characterized by conflicts, wars, and genocide in the Balkans and by the reaffirmation of religion in the public realm. Within the discussion about ethnic/national and religious identification among Bosnian Muslims, through the analysis of the Muslim woman’s magazine Zehra, this chapter focuses on the pos...

This book examines the role religion played in the dismantling of Yugoslavia; addressing practical concerns of inter-ethnic fighting, religiously-motivated warfare, and the role religion played within the dissolution of the nation. Reviews "A sobering, enlightening and eye opening account on what has happened and may happen again if we persist in o...

This book examines the role religion played in the dismantling of Yugoslavia; addressing practical concerns of inter-ethnic fighting, religiously-motivated warfare, and the role religion played within the dissolution of the nation. "A sobering, enlightening and eye opening account on what has happened and may happen again if we persist in our refus...

Feminist theology is a new phenomenon in the Balkans, and only a few women, more precisely, only a few female Catholic theologians and writers, discussed this topic in the former Yugoslavia. It was important work in the post–Vatican Council period as it shed light on the role of women in family, church, and society, though no larger, systemic schol...

The books explores intersection of religious interpretation of gender equality and application of cultural gender norms in the Bosnian Society. First part of the book provides analysis of anthropology of women in Bible and Qur'an and second part offers sociological women's status in family and public life.

Images of women, especially as portrayed during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia, Herzegovina, and neighboring countries, reflect ethnonational politics and ideologies prevalent at the time. This chapter begins by tracing the status and roles of Balkan women in public life, starting in 1946-the year in which they obtained suffrage. The first section pro...

Ova knjiga sociološki propituje stavove građana i građanki BiH o tome na koji način religijske interpretacije u simbiozi sa kulturnom tradicijom utječu na angažman žene u javnom životu i politici.

Rodna perspektiva dostojanstva u islamskoj tradiciji Uvod Muslimanke i muslimani s ponosom ističu kako je kur'anska poruka još prije 14 stoljeća nedvojbeno garantirala jednako dostojanstvo svim ljudima bez obzira na rasu, klasu, rod i vjerovanje ili nevjerovanje. Dostojanstvo se temelji na stvaranju i ključnim darovima razuma, intelekta i slobodne...