Quote by Fatima Mernissi: “Modernity is a battle between tradition and change.”

This statement suggests that becoming 'modern' isn't a smooth process but an ongoing struggle. It's about figuring out how to balance old ways with new ideas, often causing tension and requiring constant negotiation between the past and future.

After the Cold War, many societies grappled with new global influences and the rise of various forms of political Islam, making the tension between tradition and modernity a central theme for thinkers like Mernissi in North Africa.

Moroccan feminist sociologist and author whose work examined Islamic societies, gender, and power with scholarly rigour and personal candour. Her 1994 memoir Dreams of Trespass explored the harem as a metaphor for all systems of confinement, and her writing continues to influence feminist thought across the Arab world.