Tolino, Serena (2 November 2022). Slavery, Dependency and Gender: What can we Learn From Eunuchs in Islamicate Societies? (Unpublished). In: BCDSS/NISIS Autumn School "Coercion, Slavery and Relations of Dependency in the Islamicate World". Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies, University of Bonn. 02-04 November 2022.
Contemporary research in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies tends to be quite sceptical of longue-durée approaches to history: the fear of ‘essentialising’ or ‘ahistoricizing’ the Middle East is certainly well present even though more than forty years passed since the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism. Still, I believe that longue-durée perspectives can be useful to make more visible changes and transformations that modernity brought in the region, especially when looking at gender, as shown by one of the founding books in the field of gender history in the Middle East (Leila Ahmed 1992).
In my lecture I will reflect on what we can learn when focusing on eunuchs in Islamicate societies. The case of the eunuch is particularly interesting because it combines different aspects that are striking from an intersectional perspective: eunuchs were mostly enslaved, were men, but at the same time were castrated, something that could make us believe they would be less powerful than non-castrated men. Still, eunuchs really formed an integral part of the ruling systems in different Islamic medieval dynasties. It is well known that eunuchs were harem guardians, but eunuchs were also well established in other fields: they were commanders, admirals, they had important positions in the police, in the administration, they were provincial governors, personal attendants of the caliphs and teachers of their sons, in a situation in which a strict closeness to the ruler meant power, and guardians of the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad. While eunuchs are often understood as a relic of the pre-modern period, we also have sources showing that eunuchs were important members of wealthy families well into the 20th century. Following the personal trajectories of specific eunuchs in different phases of Islamic history, I will try to reflect on how much we can learn from this particular group of enslaved people for what regards the relation between dependency, slavery and gender.
Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item (Speech) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
06 Faculty of Humanities > Department of Art and Cultural Studies > Institut für Studien zum Nahen Osten und zu muslimischen Gesellschaften |
UniBE Contributor: |
Tolino, Serena |
Subjects: |
200 Religion > 290 Other religions 900 History > 950 History of Asia 900 History > 960 History of Africa |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Serena Tolino |
Date Deposited: |
06 Feb 2023 15:24 |
Last Modified: |
06 Feb 2023 23:28 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
eunuchs, gender, intersectionality, dependency, slavery |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/178074 |
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