The book I chose to read for the final paper was Politics of Piety by Saba Mahmood. This book, although interesting, was very difficult to follow. Mahmood basically divided the book into two parts. The first part details the movement of Islamic women's mosques in Egypt. Mahmood explains her 2 years of “fieldwork” experience and also critically analyzes Muslim women in Islamic culture after 9/11. The second part of the book focuses on the ethics, autonomy and piety of women in this culture. Throughout the book Mahmood references Foucault, which I found very interesting, showing his influence and ideals from his own research. The main point that Mahmood is trying to get across, I think, is stated in the epilogue to Politics of Piety: "...This attempt at understanding offers a slim hope in this beleaguered and imperious climate, in which feminist politics is in danger from being reduced to a rhetorical demonstration of the abuses of Islam, that analysis as a mode of conversation, rather than mastery, can provide a vision of coexistence that does not require rendering life worlds others extinct or temporary. (Mahmood, 2005, p.199) In retrospect, I have discovered that the politics of piety is linked to the concepts of gender and law, legal pluralism and, finally, autonomy and self-determination that we have learned throughout throughout the semester. Gender and law are a big part of politics and piety. The supposed role of women in gaining some autonomy in this movement must be subordinated to their feminine virtues so that they can achieve a more public role in their political and religious lives. (Mahmood, 2005, p.6). My impression of this movement is that women involved in Islamic politics and religion are still governed by patriarchal authority. A...... middle of paper...... influence laws that are made with these concepts in mind. Gender and the law concerns the entire mosque movement and how today's Islamic women are slowly evolving and gaining power. Legal pluralism is all of the systems in place and their influence on Islamic women. Autonomy and self-determination refer to the rights, choices and freedoms these women are gaining through this movement and the changes that occurred after 9/11. Works cited Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (2nd Vintage Books ed.). New York: Vintage Books. Mahmood, S. (2005). Politics of piety: Islamic renewal and the feminist subject. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Merry, S.E. (1988). Legal pluralism. Law & Society Review, 869-896. Steinbrich, S. (1990). The social and legal situation of Lyela women (Burkina Fas). Review of legal pluralism, 30-31, 869-894.