In the decades leading up to the Arab Spring in 2011, when Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime was swept from power in Egypt, Muslim women took a leading role in developing a robust Islamist presence in the country's public sphere. Soft Force examines the writings and activism of these women--including scholars, preachers, journalists, critics, ac "Ellen Anne McLarney's Soft Force: Women in Egypt's Islamic Awakening is an ambitious study that seeks to incorporate women as key contributors to the story of religious change in Egypt. McLarney's approach is both unconventional and necessary. . . . By bringing Muslim women across the ideological spectrum together as part of an extended conversation of gender, ethics, and politics, [Soft Force] challenges historians and anthropologists to appreciate the ways in which women continue to shape the relationship between religion, politics, and society in Egypt."---Aaron Rock-Singer, Bustan